Industries et Services ruraux: Supports de la Transformation Rurale dans le contexte d’une Agriculture en dégradation continue : Evidence du Sénégal

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to find an alternative to the low income of most rural households in Senegal whose main cause is the dependence of low agriculture productivity. The methodology used for this purpose is a comparative study between income from agriculture and that from small industries and rural services (services, trade, other services). The ordered logit model was used to make the estimates. The results obtained show that incomes from these different non-agricultural activities are much higher than that generated by the main economic activity that is agriculture. Where the agriculture pays 1 CFA Franc to his practitioner, the service would bring at the same time 12 CFA Francs to his practitioner, the industry meanwhile, would bring back 3,87 CFA Francs, the trade would generate 1,85 CFA Francs while the other services would provide 4.83 CFA Francs . Households, especially the most vulnerable, namely women, the young and the landless poor or with just small parcels insufficient to meet their basic needs, must undertake at least one activity from these different sectors (industry and services) as the main employment. This logic or substitution alternative is part of a rural transformation process seen in many developing countries whose economy depends more on agriculture than on other sectors of activity. The article provides concrete results that can enable rural households to cope with a possible decapitalization caused mostly by adverse weather conditions.

DOI: 10.7176/JESD/10-2-05