Land Security, agricultural productivity and food security Case of Togo and extension to ECOWAS countries

Context and background African countries have undertaken vast and increasingly ambitious initiatives in recent years to promote land registration in order to secure land tenure and ownership rights. In theory, recognition of property rights should boost agricultural productivity and food security. However, empirical evidence of the link between land security, agricultural productivity and the food security of households remains ambiguous Goal and Objectives: It is against this backdrop that this research aims to study the effect of land tenure security on agricultural productivity and food security of farm households, based on evidence from Togo, and then by extension to ECOWAS countries. More specifically, it aims to (i) identify the determinants of land tenure security of farm households, (ii) analyze the effect of land tenure security on agricultural productivity and food security of farm household by gender. Methodology: The paper relies on Oaxaca and Blinder's decomposition technique and its non-linear extension with the Propensity Score Matching Method (PSM) for robustness with data mainly from the Harmonized Households Living Conditions Survey (EHCVM) of Togo and selected ECOWAS countries realized in 2018-2019. Results: Empirical results reveal that being a woman reduces the probability of obtaining a document securing one's plot of land. However, the human capital of the head of household increases the probability of holding a land title. They reveal gender-based inequalities in agricultural productivity and food insecurity among farming households. However, holding a title deed to secure one's plot of land is expected to reduce this inequality by improving agricultural productivity and food security among farming households. The results confirm the need to develop land markets to facilitate the transfer of land, as part of measures to improve agricultural productivity and household food security in ECOWAS countries.