Faculté d’Agronomie, Université de Parakou, Laboratoire d’Analyses et de Recherches sur les Dynamiques Economiques et Sociales (LARDES), Parakou, Benin
Although Agricultural productivity is often associated with food security, the causal links between agricultural productivity and food security ar less explored. The objective of this study is to test the approach of orthodox economists that agricultural productivity reduces food insecurity. The data used are collected from 240 agricultural households in the communes of Kérou and Boukombé in the departement of Atacora in Benin, chosen by the randomy method, where at least eight (08) out of ten (10) agricultural households are food insecurity. The theoretical basis of this study is focused on the causal relationships between agricultural productivity and food security. The estimation methods are done using the ordinary logit regression model. The results showed that the pathway to food insecurity is partly related to the number of children, the informal agricultural contract, the borrowing of food crops and the sale of agricultural assets. In addition to the determinants of food insecurity, the agricultural productivity reduces household food insecurity by 2.2601 at p-value of 1%. The policy of increasing agricultural productivity would be effective in achieving food security for Benin’s farming household by 2030. The orthodox versus heterodox approach of the causal relationships links between agricultural productivity and food insecurity would be analysed in another paper.