Analysis of the effects of non-timber forest products on food consumption expenditure of agricultural households in Burkina Faso: Empirical evidence of an endogenous switching model.

Abstract

The objective of this research is to assess the effects of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) on food consumption expenditure in agricultural households in the South-West region of Burkina Faso. The empirical analysis is based on secondary data collected from 2,381 households during the 2018-2019 agricultural season. This research makes a major contribution to the economic literature by separately analyzing the individual direct effects of NTFP exploitation and sales on household food consumption expenditure. Empirically, this research focuses on impact assessment using an endogenous switching model, estimated by the Full Information Maximum Likelihood Method. The main results indicate, on the one hand, that the exploitation of NTFPs has a negative impact on household food consumption expenditure and, on the other hand, that the sale of NTFPs has a positive impact on household food consumption expenditure. Furthermore, the results highlight that the main determinants of the decision to exploit NTFPs differ from those of selling NTFPs. These results call into question the need to promote the sustainable management of agro-forestry products and the development of marketing chains associated with NTFPs.