Households’ Agribusiness Status and Food Security in Burkina Faso

Abstract

Food insecurity remains a major challenge worldwide. The political discourse calls for increasing agricultural productivity through agribusiness as a key driver of food and nutrition security. This is because the dominant agricultural system, that is, small farms, appears inefficient. However, the policy definition of agribusiness may exclude actors who fit into rural households in low-income countries. This study contributes to the literature by comparing the relationship between agribusiness and non-agribusiness households and by focusing on how this affects their respective food security. It develops an analytical framework that helps decision makers redirect agribusiness policies by clearly considering rural households as potential agribusinesses. Using a dataset covering the entire rural area of Burkina Faso, this study adopts an endogenous sample selection method to define the agribusiness status of these rural agricultural households. An instrumental variable (IV) probit regression was used to analyse the determining factors of agribusiness status, as it addresses the problem of selection bias or endogeneity. A simple linear regression was then used through which a multidimensional food security index was regressed over agribusiness and non-agribusiness household characteristics. The study finds that in rural areas, the level of agricultural technologies adopted, the input cost, and the quantity of family labour used in farming are among the determining factors of a household’s agribusiness. Land size and the quantity of sales within a household are key determinants of the level of food security. As the level of food security in agribusiness households is (two times) high as in non-agribusiness households, this study recognises the relevance of targeting agribusiness as an enabler for achieving food security. This paper proposes that decision-makers extend their definition of agribusiness by including rural non-legally recognised agribusiness actors to increase fiscal income. This study is the first to address agribusiness and food security issues in Burkina Faso.