While Contract Farming (CF) can enhance smallholders’ income in developing countries, empirical
research on the motivation of smallholders to participate in CF is scarce. This paper explores farmer preferences
for particular contract design attributes. We combined analytical hierarchy process and discrete
choice experiments to investigate the importance of contract design attributes. On the basis of data collected
among potato farmers in Ethiopia, we found that input market uncertainty is more important than
output market uncertainty in smallholders’ decision to participate. Farmers tend to minimize their risk by
opting for the buyer firm above the state and NGOs as providers of seed, inputs, and technical assistance.