Family farmers and contract farming. Links and strategies in the case of poultry production in Entre Rios

Contract farming, like a form of organizing production in which family farming is increasingly taking part of, has been object of important disputes referred to its meaning and implications for the agrarian capitalist development. While from neoinstitucionalist economy approaches it has been presented as a way to insert family farmers in value chains, from critical views it has been interpreted as a way of undercover exploitation. Recent studies have shown the diversity of forms, meanings and actors involved in these kind of relations and have suggested contextualized analysis. Within this frame, this paper analyzes the contractual articulation of family farmers to the regional poultry complex, deepening in the link among them and the processing industry, the most conflictive aspects, the negotiation spaces and the strategies they mobilize to manage it. The paper is based on information gathered from interviews to family farmers, referents from companies and technicians.