Agricultural entrepreneurship and informality in Sub-Saharan Africa: Insights from Benin

Abstract

This paper investigates the degree of informality of agricultural entrepreneurship in Benin, using data from the follow up survey of 2011 of the General Census of Enterprises. Considering informality as a continuum, the enterprises are classified as completely informal (98.24%), mostly informal (0.95%), mostly formal (0.68%), and completely formal (0.14%). The characteristics of entrepreneurs and of businesses as well as institutional and structural environment related factors influence the degree of informality of the firms. Therefore, transforming structurally the agricultural sector could pass through better access to adequate formal education, sensitization on the benefits of entry the formal sector, and institutional reforms especially of judiciary and tax systems.