Efficacy of Cotton Out-Grower Schemes on Improving the Welfare of Cotton Farmers: A Case of Chipata District, Zambia

The main objective of the cotton out-grower schemes was poverty reduction. This was mainly aimed at improving the welfare of smallholder cotton farmers. However, the trend shows that the poverty level still remains high in the rural area of Zambia and predominantly a rural phenomenon. The general objective of the study was to establish the efficacy of the cotton out-grower schemes on improving the welfare of smallholder cotton farmers and the study sought to answer the general research question on: How efficacy were the cotton out-grower schemes on improving the welfare of smallholder cotton farmers Pragmatism was the philosophical view that underpinned the study and it applied to the mixed research method approach for this study. The convergent parallel strategy of the mixed research methods approach was used. The findings from the study revealed that the cotton out-grower schemes implementation contributed positively to improving the welfare of smallholder cotton farmers participating in the cotton out-grower schemes. It also established that the cotton out-grower farmers had improved their knowledge in understanding the operation of the cotton out-grower scheme. Subsequently, the cotton out-grower schemes had benefited the communities. The study concluded that the cotton out-grower schemes had been effective in improving the welfare of smallholder cotton farmers. The study, however, recommended that there was need to address the issue of power imbalance between the cotton out-grower farmers and the cotton out-grower firms and also to address the high illiteracy levels among the rural farmers that required document transactions, by translating contracts in the local language for ease of understanding. Further, both the cotton out-grower farmers and cotton out-grower firms should adhere to their contractual obligations for the purpose of transparency and honesty. Subsequently, the out-grower farmers should be working towards an exit strategy of self-reliance