GENDER DIFFERENTIALS IN FARM PRODUCTIVITY - IMPLICATIONS FOR HOUSEHOLD EFFICIENCY AND AGRICULTURAL POLICY

Within many African households, agricultural production is simultaneou sly carried out on many plots controlled by different members of the h ousehold, Detailed plot-level agronomic data from Burkina Faso provide s striking evidence of substantial inefficiencies in the allocation of factors of production across the plots controlled by different member s of the household. Production function estimates imply that the value of household output could be increased by 10-15% by reallocating curr ently used factors of production across plots, This finding contradict s standard models of agricultural households. A richer model of behavi our, which recognizes that the individuals who comprise a household co mpete as well as co-operate, has important implications for the struct ure of agricultural production and for the design of agricultural poli cy.