Effet de la participation aux chaînes de valeur mondiales sur la productivité agricole en Afrique de l’Ouest

Although the African economy in general, and that of West Africa in particular, remains heavily dependent on the agricultural sector, the latter proves to be the least productive among the three main sectors of the economy, namely agriculture, industry and services. This study analyses the effect of participation in global value chains (GVCs) on agricultural productivity in West Africa. The data used is drawn from the World Development Indicators and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, covering the period from 1990 to 2018. The results, based on the Driscoll and Kraay (1998) estimation technique, indicate that participation in GVCs and technological innovations enhance agricultural transformation by significantly reducing its share in GDP formation. In the light of these findings, West African countries should invest in research and development to ensure specialisation in high value-added segments, thereby better influencing agricultural productivity.