Cooperative membership and agricultural performance: Evidence from Rwanda

Ellen Verhofstadt and Miet Maertens

No 157389, Working Papers from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Centre for Agricultural and Food Economics

Abstract: Agricultural policies in Rwanda focus on agricultural intensification and increased market orientation of the smallholder farm sector. Cooperatives are seen as key vehicles in this but little is known about their effectiveness to achieve these goals. In this paper we analyze the impact of cooperative membership on agricultural performance for rural households in Rwanda. Cross-sectional household data, collected in 2012, are used to analyze the impact of cooperative membership on different agricultural performance indicators. We specifically look at the diversity in cooperatives and distinguish different types of cooperatives in several ways. We use several econometric techniques to deal with potential selection bias in estimating the impact of cooperative membership, including a proxy variable method based on a willingness to pay measure and propensity score matching (PSM) methods. We find that cooperative membership in general has a positive impact on different farm performance indicators but that these effects are driven be specific types of cooperatives.

Keywords: Agricultural and Food Policy; Community/Rural/Urban Development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 47
Date: 2013
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:kucawp:157389

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.157389

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