Exchange relations in rice contract farming schemes in Tanzania

Rice is a vital food crop in Tanzania, both for household consumption and commercial retail. Contract farming is an important agricultural tool through which farmers and larger investors are linked to increase production and quality of crops, benefiting both the farmers and investors. This chapter uses the relational model to look at the relationships in two rice contract farming schemes in Tanzania: Kapunga Rice Plantation Limited and Mtenda Kyela Rice Supply. The empirical data is from household surveys and interviews from the Mbeya region in 2015. Agricultural inputs, extension services and land are all types of exchanges that occur in these two cases, though land was only exchanged in the Kapunga case. For the majority of farmers in both cases, the relationship between farmers and investors is characterized by positive outcomes and reciprocal exchanges, which drives the participants to continue in rice contract farming.