Food versus Cash: Development Theory and Reality in Northern Côte d’Ivoire

In the literature on the evolution of farming systems in Sub-Saharan Africa, the food versus cash debate on the competition versus complementarity between food and export crops (such as cotton) in agricultural development seems to offer contrasting views on rural development. The purpose of the present study is to revisit these schools of thought through an empirical case study in northern Côte d’Ivoire. Farming systems are distinguished through the presence of cotton and the degree of intensification and mechanization. Non-mechanized cotton systems are severely constrained by labour bottlenecks during field preparation of cotton fields due to competition with food crops and are barely able to subsist. Mechanization, as part of the cotton program, enables cotton farms to spread labour peaks and dramatically increase cropped areas. Our findings suggest that both development theories in reality coexist rather than contrast and that neither of both simultaneously applies on all farming systems.