The Role of Remittances for Sorghum Production
Date
2021-07-12
Authors
Dedewanou, Finagnon A.
Tossou, Rolande C. B. Kpekou
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
African Economic Research Consortium
Abstract
The large increase in remittances from migrants has generated optimism about
the potential development benefits of these capital flows in rural communities
where capital market failures are prevalent. This paper examines the causal
effect of remittances on sorghum production by using the 2014 Living Standards
Measurement Study (LSMS) dataset on Burkina Faso. We use a Bayesian
instrumental variables approach to explore several specific pathways. The
results show that land size, the number of workers, and the quantity of herbicide
used are the factors that significantly improve sorghum production in Burkina Faso. We also find that a 1% increase in the amount of remittances leads to 0.938%
decrease in production of sorghum. We suggest that public policies aimed at improving
agricultural productivity will be more effective if there is a remittance use scheme in
place, along with the transparency of decision-making concerning land allocation.