IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/agecon/v39y2008i2p245-256.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Horticulture, livelihoods, and urban transition in Africa: evidence from South‐West Cameroon

Author

Listed:
  • Laurent Parrot
  • Clovis Dongmo
  • Michel Ndoumbé
  • Christine Poubom

Abstract

This article documents change in periurban horticulture using repeat surveys in 1995 and 2004 of about 300 households around Muea, Cameroon. Real household incomes increased by 14%, with a large shift from farm to nonfarm income. Within agriculture, activity shifted from staple crops to horticulture, both for sale and in home consumption. In 1995, there were large remittances from farmers involved in periurban horticulture to their village of origin; in 2004 remittances continued and horticultural farmers were also heavily involved in informal financial associations. Periurban horticulture is disproportionately practiced by women and older workers, and plays an important and growing role in African livelihoods.

Suggested Citation

  • Laurent Parrot & Clovis Dongmo & Michel Ndoumbé & Christine Poubom, 2008. "Horticulture, livelihoods, and urban transition in Africa: evidence from South‐West Cameroon," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 39(2), pages 245-256, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:agecon:v:39:y:2008:i:2:p:245-256
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1574-0862.2008.00330.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-0862.2008.00330.x
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1574-0862.2008.00330.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ruel, Marie T. & Haddad, Lawrence & Garrett, James L., 1999. "Some Urban Facts of Life: Implications for Research and Policy," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 27(11), pages 1917-1938, November.
    2. Weinberger, Katinka & Lumpkin, Thomas A., 2007. "Diversification into Horticulture and Poverty Reduction: A Research Agenda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(8), pages 1464-1480, August.
    3. Supattra Cherdchuchai & Keijiro Otsuka, 2006. "Rural income dynamics and poverty reduction in Thai villages from 1987 to 2004," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 35(s3), pages 409-423, November.
    4. Aryeetey, Ernest & Udry, Christopher, 1997. "The Characteristics of Informal Financial Markets in Sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 6(1), pages 161-203, March.
    5. Friedrich Schneider & Dominik Enste, 1999. "Shadow Economies Around the World - Size, Causes, and Consequences," CESifo Working Paper Series 196, CESifo.
    6. Cohen, Barney, 2004. "Urban Growth in Developing Countries: A Review of Current Trends and a Caution Regarding Existing Forecasts," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 23-51, January.
    7. Haggblade, Steven & Hazell, Peter & Brown, James, 1989. "Farm-nonfarm linkages in rural sub-Saharan Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 17(8), pages 1173-1201, August.
    8. World Bank, 2007. "Global Economic Prospects 2007 : Managing the Next Wave of Globalization," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 7157, December.
    9. Gockowski, James & Mbazo'o, Julie & Mbah, Glory & Fouda Moulende, Terese, 2003. "African traditional leafy vegetables and the urban and peri-urban poor," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 221-235, June.
    10. Frank Ellis, 1998. "Household strategies and rural livelihood diversification," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(1), pages 1-38.
    11. Ruel, Marie T. & Haddad, Lawrence James & Garrett, James L., 1999. "Some urban facts of life," FCND discussion papers 64, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    12. Gockowski, James & Ndoumbe, Michel, 2004. "The adoption of intensive monocrop horticulture in southern Cameroon," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 30(3), pages 195-202, May.
    13. Barrett, C. B. & Reardon, T. & Webb, P., 2001. "Nonfarm income diversification and household livelihood strategies in rural Africa: concepts, dynamics, and policy implications," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 315-331, August.
    14. Demont, Matty & Jouve, Philippe & Stessens, Johan & Tollens, Eric, 2007. "Boserup versus Malthus revisited: Evolution of farming systems in northern Cote d'Ivoire," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 93(1-3), pages 215-228, March.
    15. Ellis, Frank & Sumberg, James, 1998. "Food production, urban areas and policy responses," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 213-225, February.
    16. Dominik H. Enste & Friedrich Schneider, 2000. "Shadow Economies: Size, Causes, and Consequences," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 38(1), pages 77-114, March.
    17. Pender, John & Nkonya, Ephraim & Jagger, Pamela & Sserunkuuma, Dick & Ssali, Henry, 2004. "Strategies to increase agricultural productivity and reduce land degradation: evidence from Uganda," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 31(2-3), pages 181-195, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Urcil Papito Kenfack Essougong, 2017. "Urban and peri-urban agriculture in Cameroon: Status and perspectives for development [Agriculture urbaine et peri-urbaine au Cameroun: Etats des lieux et perspectives de développement]," Post-Print hal-01651904, HAL.
    2. Benyong Wei & Guiwu Su & Yingkui Li & Yuling Ma, 2019. "Livelihood Strategies of Rural Households in Ning’er Earthquake-Stricken Areas, Yunnan Province, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-18, October.
    3. Joel Huat & Jean-Louis Fusillier & Elliott Dossou-Yovo & Bruno Lidon & Amadou Malé Kouyaté & Amadou Touré & Mamadou Bassi Simpara & Abdoulaye Hamadoun, 2020. "Benefits and limits of inland valley development to enhance agricultural growth: a farmers’ perception approach in southern Mali," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(7), pages 6111-6129, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zeeshan & Geetilaxmi Mohapatra & Arun Kumar Giri, 2022. "How Farm Household Spends Their Non-farm Incomes in Rural India? Evidence from Longitudinal Data," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(4), pages 1967-1996, August.
    2. Soltani, Arezoo & Angelsen, Arild & Eid, Tron & Naieni, Mohammad Saeid Noori & Shamekhi, Taghi, 2012. "Poverty, sustainability, and household livelihood strategies in Zagros, Iran," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 60-70.
    3. Poignant, Adrian, 2023. "Small-scale mining and agriculture: Evidence from northwestern Tanzania," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    4. Cornilius Chikawama, 2004. "Quota Rural Off-Farm Employment and Farm Investment: An Analytical Framework and Evidence from Zimbabwe," Working Papers E04, Department of Economics, School of Management and Languages, Heriot Watt University.
    5. Varun Kumar Das, 2018. "Looking Beyond the Farm and Household: Determinants of On-farm Diversification in India," Working Papers id:12945, eSocialSciences.
    6. Josephson, Anna Leigh & Michler, Jeffrey D., 2015. "To Specialize or Diversify: Agricultural Diversity and Poverty Persistence in Ethiopia," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 212459, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    7. Shanta Paudel Khatiwada & Wei Deng & Bikash Paudel & Janak Raj Khatiwada & Jifei Zhang & Yi Su, 2017. "Household Livelihood Strategies and Implication for Poverty Reduction in Rural Areas of Central Nepal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-20, April.
    8. Varun Kumar Das, 2018. "Looking beyond the farm and household: Determinants of on-farm diversification in India," Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Working Papers 2018-023, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India.
    9. Hayatullah Ahmadzai, 2017. "Status, patterns, and microeconomic drivers of the extent of diversity in crop production: Evidence from Afghanistan," Discussion Papers 2017-07, University of Nottingham, CREDIT.
    10. Govinda P. Sharma & Ram Pandit & Ben White & Maksym Polyakov, 2020. "The income diversification strategies of smallholders in the hills of Nepal," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 38(6), pages 804-825, November.
    11. Antonelli, Chiara & Coromaldi, Manuela & Pallante, Giacomo, 2022. "Crop and income diversification for rural adaptation: Insights from Ugandan panel data," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    12. Gamel Abdul-Nasser Salifu, 2019. "The Political Economy Dynamics of Rural Household Income Diversification: A Review of the International Literature," Research in World Economy, Research in World Economy, Sciedu Press, vol. 10(3), pages 273-290, December.
    13. Soini, Eija, 2005. "Land use change patterns and livelihood dynamics on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 85(3), pages 306-323, September.
    14. Nilsson, Pia & Backman, Mikaela & Bjerke, Lina & Maniriho, Aristide, 2019. "One cow per poor family: Effects on the growth of consumption and crop production," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 1-12.
    15. Lisa Elena Fuchs & Levi Orero & Nictor Namoi & Henry Neufeldt, 2019. "How to Effectively Enhance Sustainable Livelihoods in Smallholder Systems: A Comparative Study from Western Kenya," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-19, March.
    16. Dil Bahadur Rahut & Khondoker Abdul Mottaleb & Akhter Ali, 2018. "Rural Livelihood Diversification Strategies and Household Welfare in Bhutan," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 30(4), pages 718-748, September.
    17. repec:zbw:rwidps:0030 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Torgler, Benno & Schneider, Friedrich & Schaltegger, Christoph A., 2007. "With or Against the People? The Impact of a Bottom-Up Approach on Tax Morale and the Shadow Economy," Berkeley Olin Program in Law & Economics, Working Paper Series qt6331x6vz, Berkeley Olin Program in Law & Economics.
    19. Ziesemer, Thomas H.W., 2010. "The impact of the credit crisis on poor developing countries: Growth, worker remittances, accumulation and migration," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 1230-1245, September.
    20. Gaurav Khanna & Carlos Medina & Anant Nyshadham & Jorge Tamayo & Nicolas Torres, 2023. "Formal Employment and Organised Crime: Regression Discontinuity Evidence from Colombia," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 133(654), pages 2427-2448.
    21. Axel Dreher & Pierre-Guillaume Méon & Friedrich Schneider, 2014. "The devil is in the shadow: Do institutions affect income and productivity or only official income and official productivity?," Post-Print CEB, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles, vol. 158(1-2), pages 121-141, January.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:agecon:v:39:y:2008:i:2:p:245-256. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iaaeeea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.