The manual’s main aims are to provide advice and guidance to those who are intending to start a contracting process, managing existing contracts and those seeking to promote new contract farming operations or monitor existing operations. The manual describes in detail the process, internal functions and monitoring mechanisms of contract farming. The manual is  not a training manual per se, but (has and) can effectively be used as a training aid  to set up training programmes dedicated to appropriate retail  market planning. The manual has been used extensively in developing contract farming mechanisms.