African Journal of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development

African Journal of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development ISSN 2375-0693 Vol. 4 (9), pp. 463-479, September, 2016. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Socio-economic impact of the coconut lethal yellowing disease on Ivorian smallholder coconut farm families

Mahyao Germain Adolphe¹, Ismael Mourifie², Jean Louis Konan Konan³, Jonas Guei Ibo⁴, Nazarette Koulou⁵, Hortense Atta Diallo⁶, Kouassi Allou⁷, Kristine White⁸, James Scott⁹ and Yaima Arocha Rosete¹⁰

¹Programme Systèmes Agraires et Développement Durable, Centre National de Recherche Agronomique (CNRA), BP 602 Gagnoa, Côte d’Ivoire. Corresponding author's E-mail: [email protected];

²Department of Economics, University of Toronto (UT), Canada.

³Programme de Recherche sur le Cocotier, Centre National de Recherche Agronomique (CNRA), 07 BP 13, Port Bouet, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

⁴UFR Sciences et Gestion de l’Environnement, Université Nangui Abrogoua (UNA), 02 BP 801, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

⁵Agence National d’Appui au Développement Rural (ANADER), BP 145, Grand-Lahou, Cote d’Ivoire.

⁶Université Nangui Abrogoua (UNA), 02 BP 801, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

⁷Programme de Recherche sur le Cocotier, Centre National de Recherche Agronomique (CNRA), 07 BP 13, Port Bouet, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

⁸Sporometrics, 219 Dufferin St., Toronto, Ontario M6K 3J1, Canada.

⁹Dalla Lana School of Public Health, 223 College Street, Toronto ON M5T 1R4, Canada.

¹⁰Sporometrics, 219 Dufferin St., Toronto, Ontario M6K 3J1, Canada.

Corresponding author's E-mail: [email protected];

Received 03 May, 2016; Accepted 11 July, 2016; and Published 02 September, 2016

Abstract

Côte d’Ivoire lethal yellowing (CILY) disease has devastated coconut plantations over the past ten years in the Grand-Lahou in the south littoral of Côte d’Ivoire. This paper used primary data collected from 338 coconut farming households of Grand-Lahou to assess the socio-economic impact of CILY for smallholder farmers. Using the propensity scores matching method, the Average Treatment effect on the Treated was calculated to assess the impact of the disease on the household. To characterize the welfare of coconut farming households, five socio-economic parameters where estimated; income, food expenses, non-food related expenses, health and school expenses. Food and non-food related expenses, including health expenses increase for CILY-affected households compared to their counterfactual. Inversely, households’ total income and spending children’s schooling expenses decreased. The survey data evidenced the inequality of gender roles in Grand-Lahou, emphasizing the limited access to resources for women farmers. Based on the findings, recommendations were made to address gender inequities and to promote awareness for smallholder farmers in preventing disease spread; and approaches for better education access. Informing farmers that CILY is associated with an increase of food- and non-food related expenses may encourage their engagement at mitigating the impact of the disease and improving disease management.

Key words: Coconut lethal yellowing, Grand-Lahou, awareness, education, smallholder farmers, gender, socio-economic impact, socio-economic parameters, household expenses.

Abbreviations used: Côte d’Ivoire lethal yellowing (CILY), Propensity Scores Matching (PSM), Double Difference (DD), Instrumental Variables (IV), Regression Discontinuity (RD), Average Treatment effect on the Treated (ATT), Average Treatment Effect (ATE), Nearest-Neighbor Matching (NN), Kernel Matching (KM), Franc CFA (FCFA).