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Impact Of Agricultural Market Reforms On Smallholder Farmers In ...

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farm households in Benin (95 percent) would be classified as poor. Thus, the poverty rate<br />

among rural households appears to be declining, but these households remain quite poor.<br />

4.1.9 Household assets and housing characteristics<br />

Household assets<br />

Household assets are defined as goods that last more than a year or two and that directly<br />

contribute to the well-being of the household. Thus, this definition includes furniture, bicycles,<br />

radios, and electrical appliances, but excludes farm equipment which only contributes to well-being<br />

indirectly and consumables such as soap and fuel. Ownership of household assets is a reflection of<br />

income over recent years, as well as being a measure of the household's ability to cope with future<br />

changes in income. Families with many assets have the option of selling them if their income falls<br />

temporarily. Finally, ownership of household assets provides an intuitive picture of the household's<br />

standard of living.<br />

According to the IFPRI-LARES Small Farm Survey, a majority of farm households in Bénin own<br />

each of the following assets: chairs, tables, beds, bicycles, and radio/CD players. <strong>On</strong> the other<br />

hand, for each of these items, 33-42 percent of the households do not own one. Motorbikes are<br />

owned by 26 percent and sewing machines and televisions/video cassette recorders (VCRs) by just<br />

5-6 percent of the households. Barely 1 percent of Bénin farm households own a car or truck (see<br />

Table 4.1.151).<br />

The average value of household assets is 226 thousand FCFA. Motorbikes are the largest<br />

component, accounting for more than one third of the total (see Table 4.1.152).<br />

Looking at the pattern of asset ownership across departments, Zou has the highest frequency of<br />

many assets, including chairs, radio/CD players, bicycles, and vehicles. Atlantique and Ouémé are<br />

leaders in ownership of some other items. Atacora appears to the have the lowest frequency of<br />

ownership for various assets, including tables, beds, and television/VCRs, while Mono has the<br />

fewest of other items. The value of these household assets is highest in Zou (422 thousand FCFA)<br />

and lowest in Mono (94 thousand FCFA) and Atacora (120 thousand FCFA) (see Tables 4.1.153<br />

and 4.1.154).<br />

96

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