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Agricultural commercialization and household food security: The case of smallholders in Great Lakes Region of Central Africa

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  • Justus, Ochieng
  • Knerr, Beatrice
  • Owuor, George
  • Ouma, Emily

Abstract

Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) faces the challenge of low food production and high incidences of poverty. Several programs initiated in the region to improve food security and market access have had limited success. Many households mainly grow bananas and legumes as staple crops. Using propensity score matching, this paper evaluates the impact of bananas and legumes commercialization on household food security. Commercial oriented farmers have more diverse diets than non-commercial oriented ones because they can easily purchase other foods to supplement own production. Commercialization has a robust and positive effect on household food security. It significantly increases household dietary diversity and reduces the number of coping strategies adopted during food shortage. Programs that promote commercialization of smallholder agriculture coupled with improved infrastructure in terms of roads and market information systems are continuously needed to facilitate commercialization of farm produce.

Suggested Citation

  • Justus, Ochieng & Knerr, Beatrice & Owuor, George & Ouma, Emily, 2015. "Agricultural commercialization and household food security: The case of smallholders in Great Lakes Region of Central Africa," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 212588, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:iaae15:212588
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.212588
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    3. Matthys, Marie-Luise & Acharya, Sushant & Khatri, Sanjaya, 2021. "“Before cardamom, we used to face hardship”: Analyzing agricultural commercialization effects in Nepal through a local concept of the Good Life," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    4. Ochieng, Justus & Afari-Sefa, Victor & Karanja, Daniel & Rajendran, Srinivasulu & Silvest, Samali & Kessy, Radegunda, 2016. "Promoting consumption of traditional African vegetables and its effect on food and nutrition security in Tanzania," 2016 Fifth International Conference, September 23-26, 2016, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 246912, African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).

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    Keywords

    Consumer/Household Economics; Food Security and Poverty;

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