Side Marketing

Abstract

Contract farming is increasingly becoming a major source of funding for most agricultural commodities on the basis of its ability to ensure a consistent supply of raw materials to agro processing firms. Drawing from the market imperfection theory and the information asymmetry theory, extant literature has documented a number of factors that contribute to side marketing, but is very limited on profiling the common demographic factors attributed to that practice. Therefore, this study sought to develop a comprehensive profile of contract farmers that are likely to side market. A sample of 400 tobacco contract farmers drawn from Bindura District was surveyed. The data was analysed using logistic regression analysis, and the results indicated that the men, youth, single, primary level educated, and communal farmers were more likely to side market than their counterparts in the same demographic groups. The study recommended that agro-processing firms should be cautious when they enter into farming contracts with the flagged demographic groups.