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

4.3.2 Survey methods
At the time of the survey, there were 2023 groupements villageois (GVs) marketing cotton. A list
of these GVs was obtained from of the Societé Nationale de Promotion Agricole (SONAPRA).
The number of GVs to be selected from each department was proportional to the cotton production
in each department. Within each department, GVs were selected randomly from the list. In all, 189
GVs were interviewed.
The questionnaire was designed by IFPRI researchers in collaboration with LARES survey
specialists. It consisted of 12 pages of questions covering the following topics: basic
characteristics, management, assets, commercial activities (including input procurement and crop
marketing), budget, and perception and problems.
The data collection for the survey was carried out according to the following schedule:
May 1999
June 1999
July-September 1999
Questionnaire design
Training of enumerators and field testing
Data collection
4.3.3 Basic characteristics
Virtually all the GVs in the sample (99 percent) have been formed since 1970 (see Table 4.3.1).
More than one quarter of them were created between 1970 and 1974, as part of the new socialist
policy of organizing agricultural production in cooperatives. Most of these GVs were the
department of Borgou. GV formation was slower in the following decades, but it accelerated again
in 1990-94, when roughly another quarter of the GVs were established. This second period of
expansion reflects the expansion in cotton area that took place during this time. Many of these
newer GVs were created in Zou and other departments outside the traditional cotton zone. This
explains the fact that GVs in Zou have been in existence less than 9 years on average, compared to
an average of over 20 years in Borgou (see Table 4.3.2).
Almost two-thirds of the GVs were reported to have been created in response to the initiative of the
members. In the other cases, the initiative came from CARDER. This pattern did not vary
significantly from one department to another (see Table 4.3.3).
119