Does land tenure security matter for household income diversification in Burkina Faso? Empirical evidence from a mixed process regression

Windinkonté Séogo

Abstract
Income diversification is considered an important livelihood strategy for rural households in agrarian economies, especially in contexts of erratic agricultural income. In this study, we investigate whether land tenure security is a pull factor for household income diversification. Relying on survey data collected from 1 852 rural households by the Burkina Faso Rural Development Program in 2017, and using a mixed process regression dealing with the endogeneity, we find evidence that land tenure security stimulates household income diversification. The results also point out other factors, including age, the ratio of active members in the household, access to infrastructure, farm size and location in the Sudanian zone as drivers of household income diversification. This evidence calls for the institutionalisation of land tenure security in order to improve rural households’ livelihoods and suggests alternative, efficient measures for addressing land tenure insecurity challenges in rural Burkina Faso.