Social and economic opportunities and the development of market crops in Bouake (Cote d'Ivoire)

The rural economy of the Bouake region has always been dominated by subsistence food production. Agricultural income in this region has been very low compared with that of Baoule farmers who emigrated at least seasonally to forest areas in the west and southwest of Cote d'Ivoire to work as laborers. For a decade, however, the return of these emigrants to their home village has combined with several factors to orient Baoule agriculture towards a market economy. Economic of oppurtunities such as the wholesale market in Bouake, its increasing population, the availability of long-abandoned lowlands as well as development projects have induced some young people, who previously migrated to work as seasonal labor, to develop new economic alternatives: market farming, rice in the lowlands, cashew trees, peanuts, etc. These have turned out to be more than working as seasonal laborers in the forest areas. Thus, the slowing of migration in the largest portion of the working population has helped to dynamize the economy of these villages, which is moving from a subsistence economy to an agricultural market economy.