Summary of my work on Benin
I started working in Benin in 2009, on a project called "TRADE, FOOD SAFETY STANDARDS AND WELFARE OF SMALL SCALE PRODUCERS : THE CASE OF ARTISANAL SHRIMP FISHERS IN BENIN". The project was funded by the Fund for Scientific Research (Flanders) - FWO.
In 2003 Benin’s shrimp sector faced a ban on exports to the EU, due to non-compliance with food safety norms. In 2005 the ban was lifted and it was expected that exports would retake soon. In 2009 exports had not yet retaken, but the outlook was positive, with key informants in Ministries and donors optimistic about a recovery of exports. In March-July 2009 we implemented a baseline survey among households of fishing communities in southern Benin. The plan was to do a follow-up survey once exports would retake, basically providing us with a natural experiment to measure the impact of renewed EU market access.
Exports did however not retake, which is discussed in "The unintended consequence of an EU export ban: Evidence from Benin’s shrimp sector" (with Romain Houssa). While waiting for the revival of exports, and thus our follow-up survey, we exploited the data in the baseline survey to study (the lack of) income diversification of fishermen (even after the negative income shock of the ban): To fish or not to fish: resource degradation and income diversification in Benin (with Nik Stoop and Romain Houssa). One reason why fishermen are not diversifying away from the fishery sector (despite a degrading fish stock) is because they intensify their fishing effort, in a vaccum of effective institutions to manage the common resource pool.
The functioning of the existing institutions is analysed in a paper in which I compare 'traditional' with 'modern' institutions "Voodoo versus fishing committees: the role of traditional and modern community institutions in fisheries management" (with Elena Briones Alonso and Romain Houssa). Voodoo turns out to be a fasciniating institution, and I also investigated its impact on health care, in "Voodoo, vaccinations and bednets in Benin" (with Nik Stoop and Koen Deconinck). Voodoo even has an impact on intra-household and generd issues. Check out this paper "Only women can whisper to gods: Voodoo, menopause and women’s autonomy" (with Sahawal Alidou).
Check out my publications for the latest bibliographic references for my work on Benin, and my work in progress for work that is in the pipeline. FOR UNGATED PREPRINTS, visit my Research Gate page.