Credit Constraints, Agricultural Productivity, and Household Welfare in Burkina Faso: A Gender Perspective

ABSTRACT We define three ordinal credit constraint levels (low, medium, high) and assess their effects on farmers’ welfare through the agricultural productivity channel. Farmers who are successful in getting credit face a low level of credit constraints. Those who do not obtain credit are disentangled in two levels: the high and medium levels of credit constraints. We study the case of Burkina Faso, a country where women farmers experience unequal property rights, we show that these credit constraints offer more detailed insights than a binary approach. Our findings reveal that easing credit constraints boosts welfare and productivity, with variations based on constraint levels and gender. Additionally, less empowered women farmers exhibit reduced productivity despite better credit access, highlighting gender inequality and land rights issues that lead to women's disempowerment and credit misallocation.