IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cir/cirwor/2019s-07.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Determinants of Crop Diversification in Burkina Faso - What is the Impact of Risk Preference?

Author

Listed:
  • Kotchikpa Gabriel Lawin
  • Lota Tamini

Abstract

The literature considers crop diversification to be a risk management strategy at the farm level. In this article, we combine experimental data on risk aversion with survey data to identify the extent to which risk aversion affects crop diversification decisions. We conduct experiments to measure the risk aversion of smallholder farmers in Burkina Faso and a field survey to gather data on various socio-economic variables. To measure crop diversification, we use three indices of spatial diversity in crop species adapted from the ecological economics literature, i.e., the weighted count index, the weighted Herfindahl index measure of crop concentration and the weighted Shannon index of evenness. An Ordinary Least square (OLS) model is used to estimate the impact of risk aversion on crop diversification when the weighted count index and the weighted Herfindahl index are used as the dependent variable, whereas a Tobit model is used for the weighted Shannon index. Our results show that risk aversion has a negative and significant effect on crop diversification. Risk-averse producers focus more on the production of traditional, less risky and low market value crops. Other variables also affect crop diversification. In particular, education level, distance to market, farm area and land fragmentation are associated with greater crop diversification.

Suggested Citation

  • Kotchikpa Gabriel Lawin & Lota Tamini, 2019. "Determinants of Crop Diversification in Burkina Faso - What is the Impact of Risk Preference?," CIRANO Working Papers 2019s-07, CIRANO.
    • Handle: RePEc:cir:cirwor:2019s-07
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://cirano.qc.ca/files/publications/2019s-07.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Saenz, Mariana & Thompson, Eric, 2017. "Gender and Policy Roles in Farm Household Diversification in Zambia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 152-169.
    2. Sanzidur Rahman, 2008. "Determinants of Crop Choices by Bangladeshi Farmers: A Bivariate Probit Analysis," Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development, Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), vol. 5(1), pages 29-41, June.
    3. Smale, Melinda & Bellon, Mauricio R & Aguirre Gomez, Jose Alfonso, 2001. "Maize Diversity, Variety Attributes, and Farmers' Choices in Southeastern Guanajuato, Mexico," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 50(1), pages 201-225, October.
    4. Rahman, Sanzidur, 2008. "Determinants of Crop Choices by Bangladeshi Farmers: A Bivariate Probit Analysis," Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development, Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-13, June.
    5. Engle Warnick James C. & Escobal Javier & Laszlo Sonia C., 2011. "Ambiguity Aversion and Portfolio Choice in Small-Scale Peruvian Farming," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 11(1), pages 1-56, November.
    6. Rahman, Sanzidur, 2009. "Whether crop diversification is a desired strategy for agricultural growth in Bangladesh?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 340-349, August.
    7. Takeshi Sakurai & Thomas Reardon, 1997. "Potential Demand for Drought Insurance in Burkina Faso and Its Determinants," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 79(4), pages 1193-1207.
    8. GlennW. Harrison & StevenJ. Humphrey & Arjan Verschoor, 2010. "Choice under Uncertainty: Evidence from Ethiopia, India and Uganda," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 120(543), pages 80-104, March.
    9. Kolawole Ogundari, 2013. "Crop diversification and technical efficiency in food crop production," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 40(3), pages 267-287, February.
    10. Joshi, P.K. & Gulati, Ashok & Birthal, Pratap S. & Tewari, Laxmi, 2003. "Agriculture diversification in South Asia," MSSD discussion papers 57, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    11. Barham, Bradford L. & Chavas, Jean-Paul & Fitz, Dylan & Salas, Vanessa Ríos & Schechter, Laura, 2014. "The roles of risk and ambiguity in technology adoption," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 204-218.
    12. Abu Hayat Md. Saiful Islam & Joachim Braun & Andrew L. Thorne-Lyman & Akhter U. Ahmed, 2018. "Farm diversification and food and nutrition security in Bangladesh: empirical evidence from nationally representative household panel data," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 10(3), pages 701-720, June.
    13. Lighton Dube & Revaux Numbwa & Emmanuel Guveya, 2016. "Determinants of crop diversification amongst agricultural co-operators in Dundwa agricultural camp, Choma district, Zambia," Asian Journal of Agriculture and rural Development, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 6(1), pages 1-13, January.
    14. Di Falco, Salvatore & Perrings, Charles, 2005. "Crop biodiversity, risk management and the implications of agricultural assistance," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(4), pages 459-466, December.
    15. Musa Hasen Ahmed & Kumilachew Alamerie Melesse, 2018. "Impact of off-farm activities on technical efficiency: evidence from maize producers of eastern Ethiopia," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 6(1), pages 1-15, December.
    16. Boris Bravo & Horacio Cocchi & Daniel Solís, 2006. "Output Diversification Among Small-Scale Hillside Farmers In El Salvador," OVE Working Papers 1706, Inter-American Development Bank, Office of Evaluation and Oversight (OVE).
    17. Lighton Dube & Revaux Numbwa & Emmanuel Guveya, 2016. "Determinants of Crop Diversification amongst Agricultural Co-Operators in Dundwa Agricultural Camp, Choma District, Zambia," Asian Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 6(1), pages 1-13.
    18. Jean‐Paul Chavas & Salvatore Di Falco, 2012. "On the Role of Risk Versus Economies of Scope in Farm Diversification With an Application to Ethiopian Farms," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(1), pages 25-55, February.
    19. Coelli, Tim & Fleming, Euan, 2004. "Diversification economies and specialisation efficiencies in a mixed food and coffee smallholder farming system in Papua New Guinea," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 31(2-3), pages 229-239, December.
    20. Van Dusen, M. Eric & Taylor, J. Edward, 2005. "Missing markets and crop diversity: evidence from Mexico," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(4), pages 513-531, August.
    21. Mintewab Bezabih & Mare Sarr, 2012. "Risk Preferences and Environmental Uncertainty: Implications for Crop Diversification Decisions in Ethiopia," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 53(4), pages 483-505, December.
    22. Jones, Andrew D. & Shrinivas, Aditya & Bezner-Kerr, Rachel, 2014. "Farm production diversity is associated with greater household dietary diversity in Malawi: Findings from nationally representative data," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 1-12.
    23. Benin, S. & Smale, M. & Pender, J. & Gebremedhin, B. & Ehui, S., 2004. "The economic determinants of cereal crop diversity on farms in the Ethiopian highlands," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 31(2-3), pages 197-208, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lawin, Kotchikpa G. & Tamini, Lota D., 2017. "Risk preferences and crop diversification amongst smallholder farmers in Burkina Faso," Annual Meeting, 2017, June 18-21, Montreal, Canada 258058, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society.
    2. Tesfaye, Wondimagegn & Tirivayi, Nyasha, 2020. "Crop diversity, household welfare and consumption smoothing under risk: Evidence from rural Uganda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    3. Bellon, Mauricio R. & Kotu, Bekele Hundie & Azzarri, Carlo & Caracciolo, Francesco, 2020. "To diversify or not to diversify, that is the question. Pursuing agricultural development for smallholder farmers in marginal areas of Ghana," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    4. Hayatullah Ahmadzai, 2017. "Status, patterns, and microeconomic drivers of the extent of diversity in crop production: Evidence from Afghanistan," Discussion Papers 2017-07, University of Nottingham, CREDIT.
    5. Getahun, Tigabu & Fetene, Gebeyehu, 2021. "The Nexus of Production Diversity, Market Participation and Dietary Diversity: Insights from Ethiopia," Discussion Papers 316382, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
    6. Sanzidur Rahman & Chidiebere Daniel Chima, 2016. "Determinants of Food Crop Diversity and Profitability in Southeastern Nigeria: A Multivariate Tobit Approach," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 6(2), pages 1-14, April.
    7. Saenz, Mariana & Thompson, Eric, 2017. "Gender and Policy Roles in Farm Household Diversification in Zambia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 152-169.
    8. Alessandro De Pinto & Greg Seymour & Elizabeth Bryan & Prapti Bhandari, 2020. "Women’s empowerment and farmland allocations in Bangladesh: evidence of a possible pathway to crop diversification," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 163(2), pages 1025-1043, November.
    9. Coromaldi, Manuela & Pallante, Giacomo & Savastano, Sara, 2015. "Adoption of modern varieties, farmers' welfare and crop biodiversity: Evidence from Uganda," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 346-358.
    10. Asfaw, Solomon & Cattaneo, Andrea & Pallante, Giacomo & Palma, Alessandro, 2017. "Improving the efficiency targeting of Malawi's farm input subsidy programme: Big pain, small gain?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 104-118.
    11. Nguyen, Huy Quynh, 2017. "Analyzing the economies of crop diversification in rural Vietnam using an input distance function," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 148-156.
    12. Tesfaye, Wondimagegn, 2022. "Crop diversification and child malnutrition in rural Ethiopia: Impacts and Pathways," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    13. Takeshima, Hiroyuki & Hatzenbuehler, Patrick L. & Edeh, Hyacinth O., 2020. "Effects of agricultural mechanization on economies of scope in crop production in Nigeria," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    14. Elisa Gatto & Alba Marino & Guido Signorino, 2013. "Biodiversity and risk management in agriculture: what do we learn from CAP reforms? A farm-level analysis," ERSA conference papers ersa13p805, European Regional Science Association.
    15. Karl S. Zimmerer & Steven J. Vanek, 2016. "Toward the Integrated Framework Analysis of Linkages among Agrobiodiversity, Livelihood Diversification, Ecological Systems, and Sustainability amid Global Change," Land, MDPI, vol. 5(2), pages 1-28, April.
    16. Nguyen, Huy, 2014. "Crop diversification, economic performance and household’s behaviours Evidence from Vietnam," MPRA Paper 59090, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Song, Xiaoqing & Wang, Xiong & Li, Xinyi & Zhang, Weina & Scheffran, Jürgen, 2021. "Policy-oriented versus market-induced: Factors influencing crop diversity across China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    18. Abedin, Naveen & Haque, Samiul, 2021. "Effectiveness of agricultural diversification in promoting food security," 2021 Annual Meeting, August 1-3, Austin, Texas 313967, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    19. Henry Kankwamba & Mariam Kadzamira & Karl Pauw, 2018. "How diversified is cropping in Malawi? Patterns, determinants and policy implications," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 10(2), pages 323-338, April.
    20. Abdul Razak Baba & Abdul-Malik Abdulai, 2021. "Determinants of Crop Diversification and Its Effects on Household Food Security in Northern Ghana," Arthaniti: Journal of Economic Theory and Practice, , vol. 20(2), pages 227-245, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Risk aversion; diversity index; crop diversification; smallholder farmers; Burkina Faso;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • Q12 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Micro Analysis of Farm Firms, Farm Households, and Farm Input Markets
    • Q57 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Ecological Economics

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cir:cirwor:2019s-07. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Webmaster (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ciranca.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.