Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/230159 
Year of Publication: 
2019
Citation: 
[Journal:] Agricultural Economics [ISSN:] 1574-0862 [Volume:] 50 [Issue:] 6 [Publisher:] Wiley [Place:] Hoboken, NJ [Year:] 2019 [Pages:] 749-763
Publisher: 
Wiley, Hoboken, NJ
Abstract: 
The global demand for cashew nuts continues to increase steadily. However, many African countries face difficulties in marketing and adding value to the product. Using recent survey data of 391 cashew farmers in Ghana, this paper contributes to the growing evidence on the significance of contract farming (CF) in improving the welfare of rural households in developing countries. Specifically, the paper analyzes the factors that influence cashew farmers’ decisions to participate in CF, and the impact of participation on farmers’ performance. We employ a recently developed switching regression model with endogenous explanatory variables and endogenous switching to control for selection bias caused by observable and unobservable factors. The empirical results show that participation in CF significantly increases labor productivity and price margins, as well as cashew yields, and net revenues. A disaggregated analysis of the sample into farm size categories reveals that small-sized cashew farms tend to benefit more through CF, compared to medium- and large-sized farms.
Subjects: 
Africa
cashew
contract farming
impact assessment
value chain
C34
J24
L24
O13
Q13
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Article
Document Version: 
Published Version

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