Abstract

Claude Bizimana

The aim of the study is to address the issue of non farm activities participation decisions of rural households in Burkina Faso. The analysis is based on a multinomial Logit model using data collected over the 1999 to 2004 period from four agro-ecological zones: the Sudanese zone, the Sahelian zone, the north-Guinean zone and the southGuinean zone. The results indicate that the contribution of non-farm activities to household income was significant in the rural area irrespective of the zone considered and households combined several strategies for diversifying sources of household income, which vary with zones. In the Sahelian-Sudanese zone, the number of working people in the household, the income from farming, the age of the head of the household, his/her level of education, the technology used in production and rainfall were found to be the factors that significantly influenced the participation in non farm activities. In the Guinean-zone, the variables that significantly influenced participation are production technology, farm income, rainfall, the number of working people in the household, the level of education of the head of the household and his/her age.