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Market Participation of Smallholder Farmers and Food Crop Productivity: Evidence from Burkina Faso

Received: 15 December 2020    Accepted: 29 December 2020    Published: 15 January 2021
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Abstract

Subsistence farming is frequently viewed as a low yielding and inefficient to ensure sustainable food security in sub-Sahara Africa. Commercial agriculture induces profit maximization and promotes on-farm investment. However, for most farmers in Burkina Faso, home consumption is the main objective of the agricultural production activities. Using survey data collected over 1178 farm households, this paper analyses the effects of participation of smallholder farmers in the output market on input use and food crop productivity in Burkina Faso. We estimate a Tobit model of the relationship between market participation (measured by the proportion of crop sold) and fertilizer use. The results show that an increase in level of sale leads to an increase in the level of fertilizer adoption. We also estimate a model of production using the instrumental variable regression approach to correct for the endogeneity of the crop commercialization index. The findings indicate that agricultural commercialization has a positive and significant effect on food crop productivity. This means that higher integration of farmers to markets increases their incentives to adopt new technologies which results in yield growth. Therefore, the findings confirm the need for promoting market participation of smallholders to induce technological change and productivity growth of agriculture in Africa.

Published in International Journal of Agricultural Economics (Volume 6, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijae.20210601.12
Page(s) 12-20
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Commercial Agriculture, Market Participation, Technology Adoption, Productivity, Burkina Faso

References
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[15] Ouedraogo SA, Al-hassan RM, Amegashie DPK, Zahonogo P, Sarpong DB. Analyzing smallholders’ agricultural commercialization in Burkina Faso: the role of transaction costs and households’ assets. Rev Agric Appl Econ. 2018; 21 (2): 22-31. doi: 10.15414/raae/2018.21.02.22-31
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[17] Alene AD, Manyong VM, Omanya G, Mignouna HD, Bokanga M, Odhiambo G. Smallholder Market Participation under Transactions Costs: Maize Supply and Fertilizer Demand in Kenya. Food Policy. 2008; 33 (4): 318-328. doi: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2007.12.001
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Sugrinoma Aristide Ouedraogo, Pam Zahonogo, Ramatu Mahama Al-Hassan. (2021). Market Participation of Smallholder Farmers and Food Crop Productivity: Evidence from Burkina Faso. International Journal of Agricultural Economics, 6(1), 12-20. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijae.20210601.12

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    ACS Style

    Sugrinoma Aristide Ouedraogo; Pam Zahonogo; Ramatu Mahama Al-Hassan. Market Participation of Smallholder Farmers and Food Crop Productivity: Evidence from Burkina Faso. Int. J. Agric. Econ. 2021, 6(1), 12-20. doi: 10.11648/j.ijae.20210601.12

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    AMA Style

    Sugrinoma Aristide Ouedraogo, Pam Zahonogo, Ramatu Mahama Al-Hassan. Market Participation of Smallholder Farmers and Food Crop Productivity: Evidence from Burkina Faso. Int J Agric Econ. 2021;6(1):12-20. doi: 10.11648/j.ijae.20210601.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijae.20210601.12,
      author = {Sugrinoma Aristide Ouedraogo and Pam Zahonogo and Ramatu Mahama Al-Hassan},
      title = {Market Participation of Smallholder Farmers and Food Crop Productivity: Evidence from Burkina Faso},
      journal = {International Journal of Agricultural Economics},
      volume = {6},
      number = {1},
      pages = {12-20},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijae.20210601.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijae.20210601.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijae.20210601.12},
      abstract = {Subsistence farming is frequently viewed as a low yielding and inefficient to ensure sustainable food security in sub-Sahara Africa. Commercial agriculture induces profit maximization and promotes on-farm investment. However, for most farmers in Burkina Faso, home consumption is the main objective of the agricultural production activities. Using survey data collected over 1178 farm households, this paper analyses the effects of participation of smallholder farmers in the output market on input use and food crop productivity in Burkina Faso. We estimate a Tobit model of the relationship between market participation (measured by the proportion of crop sold) and fertilizer use. The results show that an increase in level of sale leads to an increase in the level of fertilizer adoption. We also estimate a model of production using the instrumental variable regression approach to correct for the endogeneity of the crop commercialization index. The findings indicate that agricultural commercialization has a positive and significant effect on food crop productivity. This means that higher integration of farmers to markets increases their incentives to adopt new technologies which results in yield growth. Therefore, the findings confirm the need for promoting market participation of smallholders to induce technological change and productivity growth of agriculture in Africa.},
     year = {2021}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Market Participation of Smallholder Farmers and Food Crop Productivity: Evidence from Burkina Faso
    AU  - Sugrinoma Aristide Ouedraogo
    AU  - Pam Zahonogo
    AU  - Ramatu Mahama Al-Hassan
    Y1  - 2021/01/15
    PY  - 2021
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijae.20210601.12
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijae.20210601.12
    T2  - International Journal of Agricultural Economics
    JF  - International Journal of Agricultural Economics
    JO  - International Journal of Agricultural Economics
    SP  - 12
    EP  - 20
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2575-3843
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijae.20210601.12
    AB  - Subsistence farming is frequently viewed as a low yielding and inefficient to ensure sustainable food security in sub-Sahara Africa. Commercial agriculture induces profit maximization and promotes on-farm investment. However, for most farmers in Burkina Faso, home consumption is the main objective of the agricultural production activities. Using survey data collected over 1178 farm households, this paper analyses the effects of participation of smallholder farmers in the output market on input use and food crop productivity in Burkina Faso. We estimate a Tobit model of the relationship between market participation (measured by the proportion of crop sold) and fertilizer use. The results show that an increase in level of sale leads to an increase in the level of fertilizer adoption. We also estimate a model of production using the instrumental variable regression approach to correct for the endogeneity of the crop commercialization index. The findings indicate that agricultural commercialization has a positive and significant effect on food crop productivity. This means that higher integration of farmers to markets increases their incentives to adopt new technologies which results in yield growth. Therefore, the findings confirm the need for promoting market participation of smallholders to induce technological change and productivity growth of agriculture in Africa.
    VL  - 6
    IS  - 1
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Economics and Management, University of Ouahigouya, Ouahigouya, Burkina Faso

  • Department of Economics and Management, Thomas Sankara University, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

  • Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana

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