OICC Press International Journal of Agricultural Management and Development 2159-5860 15 1 2025 03 27 The Strategy of Contract Farming Development in Iran 10.71877/ijamad.2025.16843 EN Hossein Hossein Abadi Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Education, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2362-5551 Amir Mohammadinejad Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Education, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran Omid Gilanpour Department of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Planning, Economic & Rural Development Institute, Ministry of Agriculture Jihad, Tehran, Iran Mohammad Khaledi Department of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Planning, Economic & Rural Development Institute, Ministry of Agriculture Jihad, Tehran, Iran Journal Article 2025 03 27 Contract farming is considered a vital approach to overcoming some of the severe challenges in Iran’s agricultural sector and revolutionizing the farmer's economic conditions. This farming is considered an institutional arrangement for moving traditional agriculture toward commercial agriculture. Accordingly, the present study seeks to design a strategy for the sustainable development of contract farming. For this purpose, 45 experts, including sponsor company managers and expert farmers, were selected randomly from an approved contract farming company by FAO in the western province of Iran to determine internal and external factors for the success of contract farming. The priority of these factors wasidentifiedusingtheANPmethod in the SWOT matrix. According to the results, the strengths and weaknesses of the sponsor company were the most significant factors in contract farming development. Other than economic factors, social criteria such as bilateral trust between farmers and the sponsor company and lack of satisfactory bail were determined as the significant social criteria of contract farming. According to these results, contract farming should be developed based on its multi-dimensional characteristics through a comprehensive development plan including the technical, economic, legal, educational, cultural, and ecological aspects.