Potential Demand for a New Value-Added Cowpea Product as Measured by the Willingness-to-Pay for Cowpea Flour in West Africa

The objective of this paper is to assess the potential demand for a new value-added cowpea product – cowpea flour for purchase by women street food vendors. We use a non-hypothetical real purchase decision mechanism that involves real purchase exchanges of 1 kg packages of cowpea flour in a real market environment in Niamey, Niger. Completed market transactions were bounded between an upper and lower limit price. Our results indicate that kossai vendors’ willingness-to-pay (WTP) for 1kg of cowpea flour exceeds the costs of production including a retail margin. Differences in WTP averages for different groups of vendors (economic status, vendor processor type and scale of production) were found to be statistically significant. Potential exists for profitable entrepreneurial activity in the cowpea flour business targeting women street vendors from more affluent neighborhoods; those using the wet milling process and those who are medium and large scale vendors.Agribusiness, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Willingness-to-Pay, Real Purchase decision mechanism, Cowpea-based street foods,

Business Dynamics and Informal Contracts: Experimental Evidence from the Cowpea Street Food Sector in West Africa

We use field experiments in Niger to investigate the nature and efficiency of contractual structures in market transactions between kossai vendors and cowpea grinders (key input suppliers). Three contractual structures were employed: gift contract, standard price contract and discretionary bonus contract (most incomplete). Gift contracts and standard price contracts involve an upfront payment of grinding fees where discretionary bonus contracts involve payment after the quality of service is observed. Gift contracts were found to be the most ex-ante efficient with the highest acceptance rates. Discretionary bonus contracts (most incomplete) were the most ex-post efficient that is, resulted in the highest quality. Our results suggest that the degree of incompleteness of different contractual structures influences the outcome of market transactions in the cowpea street food sector in West Africa.Incomplete contracts, Street food vendors, Experimental economics, International Development,

Identifying determinants, pressures and trade-offs of crop residue use in mixed smallholder farms in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia

<p>Crop residues (CR) have become a limited resource in mixed crop-livestock farms. As a result of the increasing demand and low availability of alternative resources, CR became an essential resource for household activities, especially for livestock keeping; a major livelihood element of smallholder farmers in the developing world. Farmers' decisions on CR use are determined by farmers' preferences, total crop production, availability of alternative resources and demand for CR. Interaction of these determinants can result in pressures and trade-offs of CR use. Determinants, pressures and trade-offs are shaped by the specific socio-economic and agro-ecological context of these mixed farms. The objective of this paper is to provide a comparative analysis of the determinants of CR use and to examine some options to cope with pressures and trade-offs in 12 study sites across Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Drawing on socio-economic data at household and village level, we describe how cereal intensification and livestock feed demand influence use, pressures and trade-offs of CR use across study sites, specifically cereal residue. Our results show that in low cereal production and livestock feed demand sites, despite a low demand for CR and availability of alternative biomass, pressures and trade-offs of CR use are common particularly in the dry season. In sites with moderate cereal production, and low-moderate and moderate livestock feed demand, alternative biomass resources are scarce and most residues are fed to livestock or used to cover household needs. Subsequently, pressures and potential trade-offs are stronger. In sites with low cereal production and high livestock feed demand, pressures and trade-offs depend on the availability of better feed resources. Finally, sites with high cereal production and high livestock feed demand have been able to fulfil most of the demand for CR, limiting pressures and trade-offs. These patterns show that agricultural intensification, better management of communal resources and off-farm activities are plausible development pathways to overcome pressures and trade-offs of CR use. Although technologies can largely improve these trends, research and development should revisit past initiatives so as to develop innovative approaches to tackle the well-known problem of low agricultural production in many smallholder mixed systems, creating more sustainable futures.</p

Potential Demand for a New Value-Added Cowpea Product as Measured by the Willingness-to-Pay for Cowpea Flour in West Africa

The objective of this paper is to assess the potential demand for a new value-added cowpea product – cowpea flour for purchase by women street food vendors. We use a non-hypothetical real purchase decision mechanism that involves real purchase exchanges of 1 kg packages of cowpea flour in a real market environment in Niamey, Niger. Completed market transactions were bounded between an upper and lower limit price. Our results indicate that kossai vendors’ willingness-to-pay (WTP) for 1kg of cowpea flour exceeds the costs of production including a retail margin. Differences in WTP averages for different groups of vendors (economic status, vendor processor type and scale of production) were found to be statistically significant. Potential exists for profitable entrepreneurial activity in the cowpea flour business targeting women street vendors from more affluent neighborhoods; those using the wet milling process and those who are medium and large scale vendors

Analyzing the drivers of smallholder farmer’s market participation in the Sahelian region of Niger

AbstractMany sub-Saharan farmers rely on agricultural production for home consumption and sell crops to meet their other needs. Farmers’ market intervention enhances economic expansion and helps to improve household food security. In our current study, we strive to explore the determinants of farmers’ decisions and the intensity of market participation in the Sahelian region of Niger, where little has been published, thereby filling the gap in the literature. A double hurdle approach was employed to achieve this objective using a sample collected from 1784 farm households in Niger.Our findings reveal that the total quantity of crops produced, gender, credit access, farming experience, training, drought, and assets positively impact household market participation significantly. Based on these results, as the quantity of crop sales is driven positively and significantly by the amount of crop produced, finding ways to increase crop production will increase household market participation. This can only be achieved by encouraging farmers to adopt high-yield crop varieties, such as climate-resilient ones, to boost productivity. Furthermore, considering the positive association between credit availability and smallholder market participation, any initiative in the agricultural sector that will bring efforts to supply credit and farm inputs to farmers will surely help to improve agricultural production and household market participation

Factors Affecting Success for Women Entrepreneurs in West Africa: The Case of Kosai, a Value Added Cowpea Product

Kosai, a deep-fat fried fritter made from cowpea, is an important product for economic development and poverty alleviation. Kosai is sold as street food almost exclusively by women entrepreneurs who use the money they earn from selling kosai on savings and daily expenditures for their family. In addition, cowpea is the more important indigenous African legume and kosai production uses a significant amount of cowpea. Data was collected, via personal interviews, with about 400 vendors in three different cities in the West African country of Niger. Results revealed that vendors with more experience were more likely to be successful

Factors Affecting Success for Women Entrepreneurs in West Africa: The Case of Kosai, a Value Added Cowpea Product

Kosai, a deep-fat fried fritter made from cowpea, is an important product for economic development and poverty alleviation. Kosai is sold as street food almost exclusively by women entrepreneurs who use the money they earn from selling kosai on savings and daily expenditures for their family. In addition, cowpea is the more important indigenous African legume and kosai production uses a significant amount of cowpea. Data was collected, via personal interviews, with about 400 vendors in three different cities in the West African country of Niger. Results revealed that vendors with more experience were more likely to be successful.Community/Rural/Urban Development,

Business Dynamics and Informal Contracts: Experimental Evidence from the Cowpea Street Food Sector in West Africa

We use field experiments in Niger to investigate the nature and efficiency of contractual structures in market transactions between kossai vendors and cowpea grinders (key input suppliers). Three contractual structures were employed: gift contract, standard price contract and discretionary bonus contract (most incomplete). Gift contracts and standard price contracts involve an upfront payment of grinding fees where discretionary bonus contracts involve payment after the quality of service is observed. Gift contracts were found to be the most ex-ante efficient with the highest acceptance rates. Discretionary bonus contracts (most incomplete) were the most ex-post efficient that is, resulted in the highest quality. Our results suggest that the degree of incompleteness of different contractual structures influences the outcome of market transactions in the cowpea street food sector in West Africa

WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN WEST AFRICA: THE COWPEA STREET FOOD SECTOR IN NIGER AND GHANA

Women entrepreneurship in the informal sector, such as street food vending, is important for poverty alleviation in West Africa. The street food sector provides employment for women and inexpensive and nutritious food for the urban poor. In this paper, we determine the importance of the cowpea street food sector, evaluate the determinants of successful enterprises and ascertain the impact of economic, cultural, religious and geographic differentials between enterprises in Niamey, Niger and Kumasi, Ghana. Data were collected through in-person interviews with 114 and 122 women street food entrepreneurs in both countries in 2009. Results revealed that women entrepreneurs engaged in the cowpea street food sector can earn incomes 4 times and 16 times higher than the minimum legal wage in Niamey and Kumasi, respectively. Incomes earned from these entrepreneurial activities contribute directly to health, education and needs of their families. OLS regression results indicate that lack of financial resources, stable business locations and religious beliefs are important entrepreneurial success factors. Cross-country comparisons revealed enterprises in Kumasi are larger and more successful than those in Niamey.Women entrepreneurship, informal sector, street food sector, West Africa