AN EVALUATION OF ANIMAL TRACTION IN THE LOWER CASAMANCE REGION OF SENEGAL

One of the goals emphasized in Senegal's new Agricultural Policy is to intensify agricultural production with aim of approaching food self-sufficiency. This thesis examines the potential of animal traction to evaluate if it represents an appropriate technology to achieve this goal. Animal traction was evaluated to observe if the potential benefits- improvement in yield, cropping intensity, area, profits, human drudgery, and labor productivity- were being accrued to farmers in two zones in the Lower Casamance Region of Senegal. The main conclusion of the study is that farmers who have access to animal traction chose to expand upland production rather than production per unit area. The benefits, therefore, were due to expansion rather then intensification