Agricultural investments, labor productivity, and rural poverty reduction: gender disparities in Togo

The incidence of poverty fell from 61.7% in 2006 to 55.1% in 2015, in Togo. This poverty reduction was driven mainly by the agricultural sector. The agricultural sector contributes about 38% to the real GDP and employs 40.7% of the total labor force. Unfortunately, poverty remain largely rural and mainly agricultural. Farm households which represents 95.8% of rural population remains the poorest group, among the socioeconomic groups. The incidence of poverty of agricultural households was 72.6%, in 2015. Despite Government's policies implemented, Togolese agricultural sector is still facing enormous constraints. Rural poverty reduction in Togo can be sought in the role of agriculture in contributing to farm incomes. The project aims at examining the effects of agricultural investments (R&D, education, health, infrastructure, institution, short-term policies, etc.) on agricultural productivity and rural poverty reduction, in order to suggest strategies for a pro-poor agricultural growth. Implementation of CBMS would enable to fill information gaps for diagnosing the extent of rural poverty, determining the causes of rural poverty, formulating policies in favor of rural farm households, and enlighten policy makers about the extent of disparities between men and women in agricultural investments, productivity, and living standards. Key words: poverty, rural farm households, agriculture investments, productivity, CBMS.