“The three models have different implications for rural agrarian change. The plantation and commercial farming models show more similar features and outcomes compared to the outgrower model.
The outgrower model generally has more
positive effects than the other two models on land, labour, employment, food security and livelihoods. The different pathways created by each model result from the specific mechanisms of causation. Land scarcity is a feature of production pressure, which leads to commodification of land but at a different pace.
The plantation model has created greater
land scarcity, rising prices and consequently landlessness. Both the plantation and commercial farming models produced similar effects on land and labour relations and hence growing inequality in their areas. Even though
the outgrower model, which integrated with a processing plant, outperformed the other two models in the assessed criteria, it may only be a question of time before land concentration and other negative outcomes emerge.”
