From statutory to private contracts: Emerging institutional srrangements in the dmallholder tea sector in Malawi
Resource information
Date of publication
december 2008
ISBN / Resource ID
129485
Pages
14 pages
Copyright details
IFPRI adheres to the basic tenets of the Budapest Open Access Initiative, articulated in 2002 (subject to any applicable third-party rights and or confidentiality obigations). All applicable data are subject to IFPRI’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) guidelines. Copyright © 2013 International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). All rights reserved.
This case study addresses the issues of institutional change and the need for collective action in a commodity, tea, which requires high fixed investment in processing facilities. In the wake of political and economic changes, the case study illustrates how asset specificity and commodity characteristics facilitate vertical integration as discussed in Chapter 5 and how exogenous changes have influenced institutional arrangements and contract enforcement in the Malawian tea industry. The case study raises such issues in contract farming as enforcement of contracts and compatible incentives when the state is a major player, and it shows the consequences of state failure, an issue that is discussed further in Chapter 20.