Drivers of collective action among smallholder vegetable farmers in Benin, Burkina Faso, and Mali

• Collective action strengthens smallholders' roles in agri-food markets. • Recursive bivariate probit model captures joint decision behaviors. • Collective input buying boosts collective output selling among farmers. • Female producers show higher participation in collective market actions. • Credit, training, and extension services drive input market cooperation. Collective action is a vital strategy for smallholder farmers in developing countries to enhance their bargaining power, reduce transaction costs, and remain competitive in rapidly evolving agricultural markets. Previous studies have examined collective input purchasing and collective output selling separately. This study analyzes farmers’ collective engagement in input and output markets simultaneously and the interdependence between them. We employed a recursive bivariate probit model with primary data coming from a random sample of 719 vegetable producers in Benin, 693 in Burkina Faso, and 663 in Mali, all of whom were members of cooperatives. The analysis considered socio-economic, institutional, seasonal, and transaction cost-related factors. Results indicate that participation in collective input buying has a positive and significant effect on collective output selling. Male producers are less likely than female producers to participate in both forms of collective action, whereas education and family labor are positively associated. Institutional factors, such as access to credit, agricultural extension services, and training, significantly increase the likelihood of participating in collective input buying. Seasonal effects suggest that exclusive rainy-season production has a negative impact on collective output selling, whereas crop diversification promotes both types of collective action. Access to information communication technology reduces transaction costs and facilitates collective action. These findings provide valuable insights for designing policies that promote collective action and enhance the competitiveness of smallholder farmers. Pathways to Market Access Through Collective Action in Vegetable Production.