PhD Defence: Seydou Bouda

Place and Role of Human Capital in the Burkina Faso's Development

Jury 

Grégoire Rota Graziosi, Université Clermont Auvergne 
Pam Zahonogo, Université Ouaga II-Thomas Sankara 
Bernadette Dia Kamgnia, Université Félix Houphouet-Boigny d'Abidjan
Patrick Plane, CNRS-Université Clermont Auvergne
Theophile Azomahou, AERC
Bity Diene

Abstract

  Burkina Faso faces development challenges. The 2021-2025 development strategy includes the development of human capital and the revitalization of growth sectors for the economy. Speaking of growth sectors, agriculture is clearly identified as a major growth sector, due to its weight in the national economy. The development programs and policies drawn up in Burkina Faso have always devoted a significant budget to education as one of the key variables contributing to the improvement of human capital. After so many efforts and means devoted to the improvement of human capital, one can legitimately wonder whether the improvement of human capital positively influences development in Burkina Faso. Several human capital indicators exist, but many converge on the consideration that education is an essential element in its determination. Some studies find mixed results regarding the relationship between education and development. This study aims to analyze the effects of human capital on development in Burkina Faso. The first is to analyze the effects of education on the agricultural productivity of rural households; secondly, to analyze the role that education can play in the adoption of agricultural production techniques and thirdly to analyze the role that education can play in reducing inequalities.

The results show that the level of education of the farm manager has a positive effect on the productivity of the main food and cash crops. In general, when the plot manager has the "literate level", technical inefficiency is reduced compared to those who have received no instruction. This inefficiency is further reduced when the farm manager reaches the primary or secondary level. For greater efficiency in the production of cash crops, the survey reveals that secondary education is the required level. Technical support for farmers, belonging to a group as well as being located in the sub-Sudanian zone make it possible to be more efficient. Similarly, the results show that a high level of education is associated with a greater probability of adopting new production techniques, while reducing polluting techniques such as the adoption of pesticides. The results also show that education is a source of inequality in well-being and whether in rural or urban areas, the effect is significant, but the magnitude is greater in urban than in rural areas.

These results suggest that policy makers could place more emphasis on access to education enabling farmers to be efficient and adopt the most effective modern agricultural techniques, a guarantee of sustainable agriculture. In order to reduce income inequalities, it is necessary to reduce the disparities between cities and the countryside with regard to the chances of access to education, whether in terms of literacy or the different levels of education. In Burkina Faso, cotton can be considered as the benchmark crop for agricultural policies. The public authorities will have to implement a proactive policy by capitalizing on the cultivation of cotton to apply it to certain food crops such as maize, rice and even cowpea, which are now well anchored in consumption habits in urban areas as in countrysides.                                                                                                   

Keywords

Human Capital,Development,Agriculture,Inequality.