Contracting Out: Plantations, Smallholders and Transnational Enterprise

Abstract

pressures for change on plantations are outlined, particularly as they affect land and labour. Next, the adoption of contract farming is considered as a logical response to these pressures. The case of contract farming of Virginia tobacco in Sri Lanka is then presented, highlighting some of the complexities contract farming schemes entail. The final section takes up some of these complexities in relation to meeting basic needs, raising issues regarding the adequacy and equity of producer entitlement and participation in such schemes and their role in achieving balanced development.