More Market, Less Poverty, But Also More Sustainable Land Use?

The main question in this research is to what extent agriculture on fragile slopes would become more sustainable if the farmers were given more possibilities for selling their products and acquiring production resources. An empirical study conducted in northern Benin demonstrates that a more accessible market does not lead to substantial increase in soil erosion control measures. The results indicated clearly that a closer market has positive effects on the yields of grain, and provides farmers with more opportunities to grow other, more commercial, crops or to undertake other profitable activities. Investments in an improved infrastructure can therefore contribute to improved agricultural returns, and these higher returns increase the attractiveness of soil conservation.Food Security and Poverty, Land Economics/Use, Marketing,

Impact of Public Market Information System (PMIS) on Farmers Food Marketing Decisions: Case of Benin

To sell their surpluses of maize, the main staple in Benin, farmers may choose among three modes of transaction: they may sell under a contract with itinerant traders, or they may sell without a contract at the farmgate or on distant markets. It has been postulated that farmers may choose a profitable mode of transaction if they have good access to information on the prevailing market conditions. Using detailed farm household survey data from Benin, this paper applies the Nested Logit model to test this hypothesis. The results show that farmers are likely to opt for selling at the farmgate without a contract if they have good access to information. However, such a decision may not be related to access to information through the government supported 'Public Market Information System' but rather it is likely to be induced by access to information through farmers' own social networks.Public Market Information System, farmers, modes of transaction, liberalization, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy,

Measuring the Productivity from Indigenous Soil and Water Conservation Technologies with Household Fixed Effects: A Case-Study of Hilly Mountainous Areas of Benin.

In this paper we examine the productivity of indigenous soil and water conservation investments in the Boukombe region in Northwest Benin, using an in-depth survey among 101 farmers on farm inputs, outputs, and SWC investments. We show that positive effects of SWC investments are only observed if one controls for household-specific constraints. We use a production function approach to relate SWC to farm output, and we control for observable and unobservable housrhold characteristics with household fixed effects. The results show that (1)there are large productivity effects of indigenous SWC investments in the Boukombe region of Benin, (2) there is a positive interaction between fertilizer use and SWC on productivity, (3) the productivity of SWC has an inverted U-shape in plot slope. Misspecification tests for omitted variable bias, endogeneity bias, and selection bias are performed and show that the results are robust.

Measuring the Productivity from Indigenous Soil and Water Conservation Technologies with Household Fixed Effects: A Case-Study of Hilly Mountainous Areas of Benin.

In this paper we examine the productivity of indigenous soil and water conservation investments in the Boukombe region in Northwest Benin, using an in-depth survey among 101 farmers on farm inputs, outputs, and SWC investments. We show that positive effects of SWC investments are only observed if one controls for household-specific constraints. We use production function approach to relate SWC to far, output, and we control for observable and unobservable household characteristics with household fixed effects. The results show that (1) there are large productivity effects of indigenous SWC investments in the Boukombe region of Benin, (2) there is a positive interaction between fertilizer use and SWC on productivity, (3) the productivity of SWC has an inverted U-shape in plot slope. Misspecification tests for omitted variable bias, endogenity bias, and selection bias are performed and show that the results are robust.

More Market, Less Poverty, But Also More Sustainable Land Use?

The main question in this research is to what extent agriculture on fragile slopes would become more sustainable if the farmers were given more possibilities for selling their products and acquiring production resources. An empirical study conducted in northern Benin demonstrates that a more accessible market does not lead to substantial increase in soil erosion control measures. The results indicated clearly that a closer market has positive effects on the yields of grain, and provides farmers with more opportunities to grow other, more commercial, crops or to undertake other profitable activities. Investments in an improved infrastructure can therefore contribute to improved agricultural returns, and these higher returns increase the attractiveness of soil conservation

Impact of Public Market Information System (PMIS) on Farmers Food Marketing Decisions: Case of Benin

To sell their surpluses of maize, the main staple in Benin, farmers may choose among three modes of transaction: they may sell under a contract with itinerant traders, or they may sell without a contract at the farmgate or on distant markets. It has been postulated that farmers may choose a profitable mode of transaction if they have good access to information on the prevailing market conditions. Using detailed farm household survey data from Benin, this paper applies the Nested Logit model to test this hypothesis. The results show that farmers are likely to opt for selling at the farmgate without a contract if they have good access to information. However, such a decision may not be related to access to information through the government supported 'Public Market Information System' but rather it is likely to be induced by access to information through farmers' own social networks

Impact of Public Market Information System (PMIS) on Farmers Food Marketing Decisions: Case of Benin

To sell their surpluses of maize, the main staple in Benin, farmers may choose among three modes of transaction: they may sell under a contract with itinerant traders, or they may sell without a contract at the farmgate or on distant markets. It has been postulated that farmers may choose a profitable mode of transaction if they have good access to information on the prevailing market conditions. Using detailed farm household survey data from Benin, this paper applies the Nested Logit model to test this hypothesis. The results show that farmers are likely to opt for selling at the farmgate without a contract if they have good access to information. However, such a decision may not be related to access to information through the government supported 'Public Market Information System' but rather it is likely to be induced by access to information through farmers' own social networks