Les effets de l'éducation sur la production agricole. Application à la Côte-d'Ivoire

Abstract

The effet of rural households' education on agricultural production breaks up into an effect on technnical efficiency (worker effect) and an effect on the households' time allocation between on-farm and off-farm activities (allocative effect). Although the presence of a positive worker effect is widely acknowledged, the few existing studies on Sub-Saharan Africa fail to support this view. Skepticism is further warranted by our estimates based on Ivoirian data. Moreover, educated households decrease the share of their on-farm work, very likely in view of more attractive activities. As a result, our data also indicate that education often brings a reduction in total agricultural output. There¬ fore, it would be of little interest to look at the worker effect on its own, even if it were positive. Although no doubt is cast on the effect of education on economic development in general, we want to emphazise that its importance in Sub-Saharan Africa does not rest on its effect on agricultural production.