Le rôle des marchés dans la transformation à long terme de l'agriculture ouest-africaine

African agriculture is presently in the middle of a transformation process, from a situation dominated by self-sufficiency strategies (risk aversion, low capital investment, priority to economic diversification) to a situation where agriculture is more diversified, more intensive and more integrated in the overall economy. Although the most visible part of this transition is the development of export crops, the main factor behind this evolution is urbanization, which gives rise to a local commercial demand for agricultural products, resulting from the local division of labor. Urbanization should provide the largest contribution to agricultural growth in the next decades, as export markets remain uncertain. World markets influence this local division of labor by dumping their unmarketable products in the region. These products compete both with local food and crafts production, the workers of which constitute the principal market of peasants.