Abstract

Mahyao Germain Adolphe, Ismael Mourifie, Jean Louis Konan Konan, Jonas Guei Ibo,Nazarette Koulou, Hortense Atta Diallo, Kouassi Allou, Kristine White, James Scott and Yaima Arocha Rosete

Côte d’Ivoire lethal yellowing (CILY) disease has devastated coconut plantations over the past ten years in the GrandLahou in the south littoral of Côte d’Ivoire. This paper used primary data collected from 338 coconut farming households of Grand-Lahou to assess the socio-economic impact of CILY for smallholder farmers. Using the propensity scores matching method, the Average Treatment effect on the Treated was calculated to assess the impact of the disease on the household. To characterize the welfare of coconut farming households, five socioeconomic parameters where estimated; income, food expenses, non-food related expenses, health and school expenses. Food and non-food related expenses, including health expenses increase for CILY-affected households compared to their counterfactual. Inversely, households’ total income and spending children’s schooling expenses decreased. The survey data evidenced the inequality of gender roles in Grand-Lahou, emphasizing the limited access to resources for women farmers. Based on the findings, recommendations were made to address gender inequities and to promote awareness for smallholder farmers in preventing disease spread; and approaches for better education access. Informing farmers that CILY is associated with an increase of food- and non-food related expenses may encourage their engagement at mitigating the impact of the disease and improving disease management.