Joël Cariolle (FERDI)

From phones to feed: Is mobile connectivity transforming west-African agricultural markets?

Joël Cariolle
FERDI
CERDI, UCA-CNRS-IRD

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of mobile technology on agricultural market functioning and rural livelihoods in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) region. Leveraging survey data from the World Bank’s Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS) collected across eight WAEMU countries in 2018-2019, covering 59,319 households (HHs) and 146 food products traded across 4,983 enumeration areas (EAs), the study assesses how network connectivity and mobile technology adoption affect agricultural market functioning and household food consumption patterns in the region. Using a given EA’s historic exposure to lightning strikes as an instrumental variable to explain cell tower coverage, our analysis reveals that mobile connectivity leads to the spatial convergence of agricultural commodity prices between rural and urban areas, supported by an increased demand for food products and a lower reliance on self-consumption in rural areas. Interestingly, mobile money adoption appears to be a key enabler of evidenced agricultural transformations. Overall, these results suggest that the digitalization of agricultural markets and rural households stimulates the transition from a subsistence economy to a market economy, and spurs the economic catch-up of rural areas, albeit with the added risk of leaving unconnected households behind.