Diversification in Crop-Livestock Farming Systems and Its Effects on Farm Households’ Livelihoods in Benin

The objective of this study is to analyze the benefits of agricultural diversification for smallholder farmers. We use household survey data in Benin and consider not only crop diversification or livestock diversification, but also croplivestock system diversification. The main outcomes are twofold. First, based on a Tobit regression model we find that farmers with more agricultural resources tend to diversify crops more, while such a relationship is not significant in the case of livestock or crop-livestock diversification. Second, OLS and PSM analyses find positive and significant associations between farm households’ livelihood and diversification.