In Senegal, rice farmers mostly sell their paddy to artisanal hullers. Since the 2007/2008 food crisis, private investments have been made in large hulling units, sometimes with the support of public policies. To ensure their supplies, these rice farmers are setting up new modes of coordination with producers cultivating less than 2 hectares, in connection with the credit financing of rice campaigns. The marketing contract matches a quality level of paddy with a price negotiated within the inter-profession. The production contract provides for the reimbursement in paddy of the input credit provided by the rice farmers. However, the impact of this change in governance on the remuneration and food security of small-scale producers is not clear.
The SISFUV project aims to identify the impact of contract selling on the income and food security of small-scale producers in the Senegal River Valley.
The objective is achieved through a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches:
Conducting a cross-sectional survey of 607 rice farmers
Estimation of the impact of the contracts by parametric (instrumental variable) and non-parametric (Propensity Score Matching) modelling. The income or food security of a "treated" group (selling by contract) is compared to a "control" group (selling by negotiation).
Discussions of the estimate with producers, and research and development partners, to identify impact pathways.
The project results contrast with the literature, which states that contracts improve producers’ income. The marketing contract does not have a significant effect on producers’ incomes since it does not allow them to access more productive inputs than those obtained through negotiation, nor to sell at a higher price. The production contract has a negative effect on producers’ incomes since it includes an implicitly high cost of interest and credit insurance. On the other hand, producers who sell by contract also use selling by negotiation, which increases their profit. Finally, the marketing contract improves the food security of producers, since it mitigates price seasonality, which confirms the few researches including this indicator.
The transformation of the Senegalese rice value chain still needs to be questioned. Agribusiness investments can impact on the sustainability of agricultural practices and access to land for small-scale producers. Similar processes also seem to be underway in other African countries.
Project Number : 1403-033
Year : 2014
Type of funding : AAP OS
Project type : AAP
Research units in the network : SELMET QUALISUD
Start date :
01 Feb 2015
End date :
30 Jun 2016
Flagship project :
Non
Project leader :
Paule Moustier
Project leader's institution :
CIRAD
Project leader's RU :
MOISA
Budget allocated :
15426 €
Total budget allocated ( including co-financing) :
15426 €
Funding :
LAbex