GREL was founded at the end of the 1960s and is now the main rubber company in Ghana. It is located in the western region of the country. In 1995, the government of Ghana decided to launch a rubber outgrower development project and obtained support from AFD (Agence Française de Développement) and IDA funds from the World Bank to finance it. GREL was the technical operator of the programme. Outgrowers received agricultural credit through the Agricultural Development Bank. 1,200 ha of rubber were planted for some 400 fanners during the first phase of the project (1995-99) and 3,050 ha of old plantations were rehabilitated. In 1999, the second phase of the project was launched. It is due to plant some 2,800 ha of rubber farms for 500 new outgrowers over a period of five years, focusing on the same areas that were already developed during the first phase of the project. So far, 1,350 ha have been planted. With the second phase of the project, a programme of applied research started. The objective is to improve the output of rubber outgrowers through technical recommendations adapted to the agro-climatic and socio-economic conditions of the country. It is to be implemented over five years. Current activities are especially concerned with agronomy. Since 1999, mainly onfarm trials concerning 41 farms (and 10 trials on rubber technology at a GREL processing factory) have been carried out. In support of the applied research programme, this mission was intended to identify the key socio-economic issues to be addressed and launch a study on rubber outgrowers. The overall objective is to acquire a clearer understanding of the constraints and opportunities of rubber outgrowers involved in the project. A survey is to be conducted. It should provide some useful information for implementing development projects and guiding research in the future. The results expected from the mission were therefore: 1. a questionnaire, which will have to be tested by GREL on a few fanners and revi