The Determinants of Female Farmers’ Productivity in the Sub-Prefecture of Damara - Central African Republic: An Econometric Analysis in a Post-Conflict Context

Résumé

In a post-conflict context where women are responsible for most of the food production, this study seeks to understand why the majority of women farmers in Damara remain low in productivity. It analyses, at the microeconomic level, the extent to which human capital, collective organisation, technical supervision and family structure influence the probability of achieving a high yield (≥ 650 kg/ha). The analysis is based on a survey conducted in 2019-2020 among 200 women farmers. Productivity is measured in kg/ha and then transformed into a binary variable (high/low productivity). A binary logit model is estimated from twelve explanatory variables describing individual characteristics, household size and composition, cultivation practices, access to agricultural organizations and services, and investment expenditure on tools. The average yield is only 635 kg/ha and only 27.5% of women farmers cross the high productivity threshold, with spectacular differences between farms. The model highlights some powerful levers: education, agricultural experience, membership of a group, harnessed farming, technical supervision and investment in tools greatly increase the probability of being productive. Conversely, living in a polygamous household significantly reduces this probability, even though age, marital status taken in isolation, rainfall and simple help from NGOs play no statistically significant role. The model correctly classifies 72.5% of cases, which confirms the robustness of these results.

This study shows that the productivity of women farmers is mainly stimulated by education, collective organization and supervision, and strongly hampered by polygamy. These findings call for agricultural policies that empower women and address intra-household inequalities.