Analysis of Deprivations Suffered by Children Under Five in Benin

Children are seriously affected by poverty and suffer particular deprivations. In addition, their situation is most of the time ignored in the strategies devoted to tackling poverty. This study examined the multidimensional poverty of children under five in Benin by identifying its determinants. It used the data from the demographic and health surveys in Benin from 2011-2012 and adopted the approach by Alkire & Foster (2011) to generate multidimensional poverty profiles of children. The weightings of the dimensions were generated by multiple correspondence analysis. The GLM and Logit models were used to identify the driving factors of child deprivation. Findings indicate that 54 percent of children were multidimensionally poor when the poverty line k = 1 against 32 percent of poor children when k = 3.  Nutrition and sanitation dimensions had the highest relative contributions of 41.12 and 28.77 percent respectively to the global multidimensional poverty index. JEL Classification:  D63, I32, O1

Determinants of the Technical Efficiency of Maize Farmers in Burkina Faso

La présente étude  analyse les déterminants de l’efficacité technique des producteurs de maïs au Burkina Faso. La frontière stochastique de la fonction de production Translog  a été utilisée à partir de données en coupe instantanée  de 275 producteurs.  Les résultats montrent que les producteurs de maïs ont un score d’efficacité technique moyen de 0,83. Ce qui signifie que les exploitants de maïs produisent à 83% de leur capacité productive, et peuvent ainsi atteindre le niveau de leur production potentielle en accroissant leur efficacité technique de 17% sans utilisation supplémentaire de facteurs de production. L’âge de l’exploitant, le sexe, la taille du ménage, l’utilisation de semences améliorées de maïs, et de la fumure organique ont été identifiés comme facteurs explicatifs de l’efficacité technique des producteurs de maïs dans la zone d’étude. En conséquence, toute politique d’amélioration des niveaux d’efficacité technique  des producteurs de maïs au  Burkina Faso doit nécessairement s’appuyer sur ces variables. Mots clés: efficacité technique, fonction stochastique, fonction translog, maïs, Burkina Faso Abstract This study aims to analyze the determinants of the technical efficiency of maize farmers in Burkina Faso. The stochastic frontier of the translog production function was used from cross-sectionnal data of 275 farmers. The results show that maize farmers have a score of technical efficiency average of 0.85. This means that maize farmers produce 83% of their production capacity, and can reach the level of their potential production by increasing their technical efficiency of 17% without additional use of production factors. The age of the farmer, the gender, the size of the household, the use of improved maize seeds and organic fertilizers have been identified as factors explaining the technical efficiency of these maize farmers in the area of study. Consequently, any policy aiming to improve the technical efficiency of maize farmers in Burkina should be based on these variables. Keywords: technical efficiency, stochastic frontier function, translog function, maize, Burkina Faso DOI: 10.7176/JESD/10-14-05 Publication date:July 31st 2019

Burkina Faso ICT sector performance review, 2009/2010

This document examines the information and communication technology sector’s performance in Burkina Faso towards better understanding of the potential and constraints of ICT usage. In spite of an improvement in teledensity, Burkina Faso remains one of the countries in the sub-region with the highest communication costs. Ancillary measures are being taken to support the telecommunications sector reforms. The paper provides background information of the telecom sector, analysis, and recommendations for regulation

Mobile Telephony Access and Usage in Africa

This paper uses data from nationally representative household surveys conducted in 17 African countries to analyse mobile adoption and usage. The paper shows that countries differ in their levels of ICT adoption and usage and also in factors that influence adoption and usage. Income and education vastly enhance mobile adoption but gender, age and membership of social networks have little impact. Income is the main explanatory variable for usage. In terms of mobile expenditure the study also finds linkages to fixed-line, work and public phone usages. These linkages need, however, to be explored in more detail in future. Mobile expenditure is inelastic with respect to income, ie the proportion of mobile expenditure to individual income increases less than1% for each1% increase in income. This indicates that people with higher income spend a smaller proportion of their income on mobile expenditure compared to those with less income. The study provides tools to identify policy intervention to improve ICT take-up and usage and defines universal service obligations based on income and monthly usage costs. It helps to put a number to what can be expected from lower access and usage costs in terms of market volume and number of new subscribers. Linking this to other economic data such as national household income and expenditure surveys and GDP calculation would allow forecast of the economic and social impact of policy interventions. Key policy interventions would be regulatory measures to decrease access and usage costs, rural electrification and policies to increase ICT skills of pupils and teachers

Mobile telephony access and usage in Africa

The study provides tools to identify policy interventions to improve ICT uptake and usage, and to define universal service obligations based on income and monthly usage costs. Results show what can be expected from lower access and usage costs in terms of market volume and new subscribers. Income is the main explanatory variable for usage. In terms of mobile expenditure, it is inelastic with respect to income. The share of mobile expenditure of individual income indicates that people with higher income spend a smaller proportion compared to those with lower income

ANALYZING SMALLHOLDERS AGRICULTURAL COMMERCIALIZATION IN BURKINA FASO. THE ROLE OF TRANSACTION COSTS AND HOUSEHOLDS ASSETS

Promoting smallholders’ agricultural commercialization is frequently identified as a promising strategy to improve agricultural contribution to poverty reduction and economic growth in developing countries. This paper analyses the determinants of agricultural commercialization of smallholder farmers in Burkina Faso, focusing on the role of transaction costs and households’ productive resources. Based on data collected in 2011 at national level from a sample of 1178 farm households, a double hurdle model of market participation and intensity of participation measured by crop commercialization index is estimated. The results indicate that households’ productive resources such as farm size per worker, use of animal traction, quantity of fertilizer used per hectare and access to credit significantly increase the likelihood of households’ market participation and the intensity of commercialization. In addition, transaction costs factors such as quality of rural roads and ownership of communication assets have positive and significant effects on the probability of market participation. Therefore, reducing remoteness-induced transaction costs by unlocking rural areas and improving farm households’ access to productive assets and technologies are required to promote agricultural transformation and commercialization of smallholder farmers

The impact of foreign direct investment, foreign aid and trade on poverty reduction : evidence from Sub-Saharan African countries

Abstract:Despite postulations on the effects of foreign direct investment (FDI), foreign aid, and trade on growth, empirical evidence from extant research has been mixed. The focus of recent research has shifted from the growth effects of these international flows to their poverty reduction effects. However, results have also been mixed. Most studies have examined the empirical evidence of these flows separately and have mostly conducted single country studies. In this study, we use data from twenty-nine countries in Sub-Saharan Africa between the period 1990–2017 to analyze the effects of FDI, trade, and foreign aid on poverty reduction in a single model using the Feasible Generalized Least Square (FGLS) technique. Our results show that FDI and foreign aid have a negative effect on poverty reduction in the countries studied. These results suggest that the level of FDI required to alleviate poverty has not been reached, and foreign aid have not been properly channeled. However, the results show that trade has a positive and significant impact on poverty reduction, especially in low-income countries. We conclude with policy recommendations

Les déterminants de l'adoption de la téléphonie mobile au Burkina Faso

This paper uses data from national household survey conducted in Burkina Faso in 2007 to analyse mobile adoption using Probit model. This paper shows that urban and rural areas differ in their level of mobile adoption. Education, income, social network and age of individual significantly enhance mobile adoption mobile telephony adoption. But living in rural area is a disadvantage for adopting mobile telephony by individuals. In Burkina Faso, there is no difference between men and women to adopt mobile telephony. The study provides tools to identify policy intervention to improve ICT take up. Key policy interventions would be regulatory measure to decrease access and usage costs, rural electrification and policies to increase ICT skills of pupils and teachers.mobile telephony, adoption, Probit model, Burkina Faso