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Drought and Saving in West Africa: Are Livestock a Buffer Stock?

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Marcel Fafchamps
Chris Udry
Katherine Czukas

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Abstract

Households in the west African semi-arid tropics face substantial risk -- an inevitable consequence of engaging in rainfed agriculture in a drought-prone environment. It has long been hypothesized that these households keep livestock as a buffer stock to insulate their consumption from income fluctuations income. This paper tests this hypothesis. Results indicate that livestock transactions play less of a consumption smoothing role than often assumed. Livestock sales compensate for at most thirty percent, and probably closer to twenty percent of income shortfalls due to village-level shocks alone. We discuss possible explanations for these results and suggest directions for future work.

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Paper provided by Stanford University, Department of Economics in its series Working Papers with number 97013.

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Handle: RePEc:wop:stanec:97013

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  2. Sarris, Alexander, 2002. "The demand for commodity insurance by developing country agricultural producers - theory and an application to cocoa in Ghana," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2887, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  3. Christiaensen, Luc. J. & Subbarao, Kalanidhi, 2004. "Toward an understanding of household vulnerability in rural Kenya," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3326, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
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  5. Hans Hoogeveen & Bas van der Klaauw & Gijsbert van Lomwel, 2004. "On the Timing of Marriage, Cattle and Weather Shocks," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 04-073/3, Tinbergen Institute. [Downloadable!]
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  8. Morduch, Jonathan, 1999. "Between the State and the Market: Can Informal Insurance Patch the Safety Net?," World Bank Research Observer, Oxford University Press, vol. 14(2), pages 187-207, August. [Downloadable!]
  9. Dean Yang, 2006. "Coping with Disaster: The Impact of Hurricanes on International Financial Flows, 1970-2002," NBER Working Papers 12794, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Paul Gertler & David I. Levine & Enrico Moretti, 2003. "Do Microfinance Programs Help Families Insure Consumption Against Illness?," Development and Comp Systems 0303004, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
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  11. Tewodaj Mogues, 2005. "Shocks, Livestock Asset Dynamics, and Social Capital in Ethiopia," Development and Comp Systems 0512006, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
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  12. Harounan Kaziango, 2004. "Motives for Household Private Transfers in Burkina Faso," Working Papers 895, Economic Growth Center, Yale University. [Downloadable!]
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  13. Ernest Aryeetey & Christopher Udry, 2000. "Saving in Sub-Saharan Africa," CID Working Papers 38, Center for International Development at Harvard University. [Downloadable!]
  14. Jeong-Joon Lee & Yasuyuki Sawada, 2005. "Precautionary Saving under LiquidityConstraints: Evidence from Rural Pakistan," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-377, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo. [Downloadable!]
  15. Marcel Fafchamps & Susan Lund, 2000. "Risk-Sharing Networks in Rural Philippines," Economics Series Working Papers 010, University of Oxford, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  16. Ersado, Lire, 2006. "Income diversification in Zimbabwe : welfare implications from urban and rural areas," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3964, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  17. Marijke Verpoorten, 2007. "Household Coping in war- and peacetime: cattle sales in Rwanda, 1991-2001," LICOS Discussion Papers 18907, LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance, K.U.Leuven. [Downloadable!]
  18. Mendelsohn, Robert & Seo, Sungno Niggol, 2007. "Climate change impacts on animal husbandry in Africa : a Ricardian analysis," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4261, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  19. Harounan Kazianga & Christopher Udry, 2004. "Consumption Smoothing? Livestock, Insurance and Drought in Rural Burkina Faso," Working Papers 898, Economic Growth Center, Yale University. [Downloadable!]
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  20. Dean Yang & HwaJung Choi, 2005. "Are Remittances Insurance? Evidence from Rainfall Shocks in the Philippines," Working Papers 535, Research Seminar in International Economics, University of Michigan. [Downloadable!]
  21. Yasuyuki Sawada, 2003. "Income Risks, Gender, and Human Capital Investment in a Developing Country," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-198, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo. [Downloadable!]
  22. Michael Carter & Peter Little & Tewodaj Mogues & Workneh Negatu, 2005. "Shocks, Sensitivity and Resilience: Tracking the Economic Impacts of Environmental Disaster on Assets in Ethiopia and Honduras," Development and Comp Systems 0511029, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
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  23. Dean Yang, 2005. "Coping With Disaster: The Impact of Hurricanes on International Financial Flows, 1970-2001," Working Papers 534, Research Seminar in International Economics, University of Michigan. [Downloadable!]
  24. Peter Lawrence, 2002. "Household Credit and Saving:Does Policy Matter?," Keele Economics Research Papers KERP 2002/04, Centre for Economic Research, Keele University. [Downloadable!]
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