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ABR 2025 26(Entrepreneurial)printed 48 · PDF 58
102 pagesrevision 50940
printed 48 · PDF 58
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what contract farming was intended to
do away with. What it's done is
substitute the middleman with an even
more dominant master: corporations
with lawyers, lobbyists, and supply
chains. The farmer is still beholden to
another. Only now, it's not a villager —
it's somebody from a glass tower in
Lahore or Karachi.
A Market That Doesn't Listen to Its
Growers
The actual tragedy? Contract farming
might actually work — if the system
listened to its growers. Rather, it's based
on the premise that rural farmers must
be controlled rather than be partnered
with. It presumes they don't know their
own market or land. It values yield over
sustainability. And it makes money off of
their ignorance.
A Way Forward: Cooperatives, Not
Corporates
Pakistan
requires
food
security.
It
requires
improved
agricultural
productivity. But the way forward isn't
corporate
mindlessness
—
it's
empowerment
of
farmers.
Farmer
Cooperatives:
From
Kenya
to
the
Netherlands,
cooperatives
have
provided
farmers
with
size
and
negotiating
muscle
to
battle
corporations without sacrificing control
over their land and decisions. Digital
Marketplaces: Digital platforms such as
Tazah and Bazaar are starting to flip the
procurement chain, enabling farmers to
reach buyers directly. With proper
support, these technologies have the
potential
to
break
corporate
dependence. Legal Reform: Pakistan
needs an immediate Contract Farming
Regulation Act — with standardised
templates,
transparent
rules,
and
autonomous
grievance
redressal
processes. Financial Literacy: Farmers
need to be taught how to read and
interpret contracts, just as they're taught
how to use pesticides or manage
irrigation.
Conclusion
Contract
farming
guaranteed
a
revolution in Pakistani farming — and in
a certain sense, it achieved one. But it
was a revolution, not of freedom, but of
silent servitude. It made agriculturalists
into factory hands in their own fields —
held captive by dotted lines and
muzzled by poverty. If Pakistan desires
agricultural reform, it needs to begin by
releasing its farmers from one-sided
contracts. Because no country can feed
itself by starving the hands that bring it
its harvest.
48
Enterprise Edition