Abstract
In this study, we analysed factors that influence crop output commercialisation among smallholder farmers in Cote d’Ivoire. Unlike previous studies, we correct for sample selection bias by using the Heckman maximum likelihood sample selection model with village fixed effects. We rely on a unique and detailed dataset that covers 3,393 smallholder farmers. The dataset was gathered from the 2014 National employment survey collected by the National Institute of Statistics (INS) Côte d’Ivoire. Results from the study suggest that cooperative membership and land tenure security raise the level of marketed outputs of Ivorian farmers. Female headed households sold lower proportions of their outputs than their male counterparts. Labour shortage is a major constraint to crop output commercialisation. From a policy perspective, the Government should revive its interest in collective actions such as cooperatives, facilitate farmer’s access to credit, improve food crop productivity and enhance mechanization. Key words: Crop commercialisation, Côte d’Ivoire, smallholder farmers, agriculture.
Highlights
Smallholder farming activities continue to be a dominant livelihood activity in most low- and middle-income countries
Côte d’Ivoire has recently had a stable economy and is currently growing at an approximate rate of 8.3% according to the African Development Bank
The extent of agricultural commercialisation by married head of households is 3% lower than those of Female headed age of the household head (Age) of household head Age of household head squared/100 HH head has primary education HH head has secondary education HH head has tertiary education HH is married Household size Household land operated size per adult land operated per adult in the household (Land) tenure security Membership of cooperative HH used hired labour HH used relatives labour HH used organic fertiliser HH used inorganic fertiliser HH used pesticide Share of off-farm income in HH total income Constant
Summary
Smallholder farming activities continue to be a dominant livelihood activity in most low- and middle-income countries. In regions such as West Africa rely on subsistence farming for their livelihood. Participating in crop market commercialisation usually requires a long transformation process from subsistence to semi-commercial and to fully commercialised agriculture (Pingali and Rosegrant, 1995). The World Bank has listed Africa among the fastest growing regions in the world. Côte d’Ivoire has recently had a stable economy and is currently growing at an approximate rate of 8.3% according to the African Development Bank. As the economy of a country grows, households shift away from subsistence goals to the commercialisation of agricultural products
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