23.01.2014 Views

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

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

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

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

sorghum/millet output of Borgou is marketed and just 21 percent of the maize is.(see Table<br />

4.1.110).<br />

Mono, Ouémé, and Zou are in an intermediate position, with 63-71 percent of the value of crop<br />

production being marketed. Although the proportion of maize sold in these departments (30-48<br />

percent) is less than in Atlantique, each of these three departments has important commercial crops<br />

that raise the average marketed share (manioc and “other vegetables” in Mono, manioc and<br />

tomatoes in Ouémé, and groundnuts and cotton in Zou) (see Table 4.1.110).<br />

<strong>In</strong> terms of the average market share (the average percentage sold), Atlantique remains the most<br />

market oriented and Atacora the least. The average market share for Atacora is just 27 percent,<br />

implying that, on average, farm households sell barely one-quarter of their output. The large gap<br />

between the average market share and the aggregate market share is due to the influence of a<br />

relatively small number of cotton farmers in Atacora with high output and high market surplus<br />

ratios. <strong>In</strong> Borgou, where a larger proportion of farmers grow cotton 15 , the two measures of market<br />

surplus are similar.<br />

It is sometimes argued that female-headed households are less commercially oriented because cash<br />

crops are traditionally “male” crops. The IFPRI-LARES Small Farmer Survey data do not support<br />

this hypothesis for the case of Bénin. According to both measures of marketed surplus, femaleheaded<br />

households are at least as market oriented as male-headed households. This is partly due to<br />

the composition of crops grown by female-headed households, in which cotton plays a larger role,<br />

and partly due to the fact that female-headed households market a larger share of their maize<br />

production (see Table 4.1.111).<br />

As expected, higher-income households market a larger share of their output. The share of crop<br />

production that is sold (the aggregate market surplus ratio) rises from 60 percent in the poorest<br />

expenditure category to 75 percent in the richest. The average market surplus ratio rises from 40<br />

percent to 60 percent. The positive relationship is strengthened by a rising marketed surplus ratio<br />

for maize, but this is offset by the fact that cotton becomes less important in the crop mix of richer<br />

households. Thus, even the poorest households in rural Bénin sell a significant share of their output<br />

(see Table 4.1.112).<br />

15<br />

According to the survey, the proportion of farmers growing cotton is 37 percent in Atacora and 68<br />

percent in Borgou.<br />

76

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!