Drought and Saving in West Africa: Are Livestock a Buffer Stock?

Journal article

Households in the West African semi-arid tropics face substantial risk--an inevitable consequence of engaging in rainfed agriculture in a drought-prone environment. It has long been hypothesized that these households keep livestock as a buffer stock to insulate their consumption from income fluctuations. This paper tests this hypothesis. Results indicate that livestock transactions play less of a consumption smoothing role than often assumed. Livestock sales compensate for at most 30 percent, and probably closer to 20 percent, of income shortfalls due to village-level shocks alone. The authors discuss possible explanations for these results and suggest directions for future work.

Authors: Fafchamps, M; Udry, C; Czukas, K

• Journal: Journal of Development Economics
• Volume: 55
• Publication date: 1998-01-01
• Language: English