Is It All About the Money? Extent, Reasons and Triggers for Side-selling in Malawi’s Paprika Supply Chain

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to advance the knowledge on side-selling. The case study of the paprika supply chain in Central Malawi showed that 36.9% of small-scale farmers engaged in side-selling. It was projected that the focal company lost between 19.9% to 44.6% of paprika due to side-selling. The main reason for side-selling was the higher price offered by local vendors. Binary logit regression indicated that the geographical location, education and income levels, distance to the collection point, a negative impact of contracting on livelihoods, membership in farmers' association and assistance from the Government significantly influenced small-scale farmers’ side-selling.