Women and Agricultural Entrepreneurship in Rural Areas in West Africa: Case of Benin

Abstract

This research identified factors that can influence the forms of women's entrepreneurship in rural areas in Benin. The Harmonized Survey on Living Conditions of Households database carried out in 2018 was used for the study. Data in several countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo) and financed by the World Bank. The annual survey to monitor the living conditions of households is part of the perspective of a better knowledge of poverty in WAEMU member countries, in order to understand its manifestations. This Data were submitted to a multinomial logistic regression model and, rural women in agricultural entrepreneurship were categorized into three groups based on sources of funding: entrepreneurship with access to credit (1.70%), entrepreneurship in association (17.88%), and entrepreneurship with equity (80.42%). The regression model identified factors such as socio-cultural affiliation, religion, geographical location, age, marital status, and the mother's branch of activity as social factors that determine the choice of forms of entrepreneurship. In addition to these factors, the study identified some constraints on women's agricultural entrepreneurship such as lack of employment, lack of access to land, level of education, access to water and grazing sites, floods/droughts, poor management, and poor sales of agricultural products as exogenous factors. Improvement of these factors could promote women's agricultural entrepreneurship in rural areas.