COVID-19, food coping strategies and households resilience: the case of informal sector in Burkina Faso.

The closure of markets in the city of Ouagadougou due to COVID-19 pandemic has had consequences on the food security status of households, in particular households of informal sector. The objective of this paper is to analyze the effect of COVID-19 on households' likelihood to resort to food coping strategies taking into account their resilience capacities. A survey was carried out among 503 households of small traders in five markets in the city of Ouagadougou. This survey identified seven mutually inclusive food coping strategies which are endogenous and exogenous to households. Thus, the multivariate probit model was used to identify the factors explaining the adoption of these strategies. The results indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on households' likelihood to use certain food coping strategies. Furthermore, the results show that assets and access to basic services is the main pillar of household resilience that reduces how likely a household resort to coping strategies due to COVID-19. Therefore, strengthening adaptive capacity and improving social security of households of informal sector are relevant.

Food security, poverty and household resilience to COVID-19 in Burkina Faso: Evidence from urban small traders' households.

Analyses of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on food security of urban households and their resilience are increasingly receiving scholarly interest. In Burkina Faso, urban households whose primary activity is trade were the most immediately impacted by COVID-19 due to the closure of markets. The objective of this research was to analyze the effect of income loss due to COVID-19 on food security and poverty among urban small traders' households by considering their resilience capacity. A survey was performed on 503 households of small traders operating in 5 markets in Ouagadougou. Objective and subjective indicators of food security were calculated, as well as several indices of resilience capacity. A simple logit model and ordered logit model were used for the socioeconomic analysis. Three main results emerge. First, COVID-19 has increased the likelihood of households being food insecure due to their lower food consumption scores. Second, estimates show that COVID-19 has reduced households' incomes by increasing their likelihood of entering poverty. Finally, at all levels of analysis, households with adaptive capacity were able to adjust to the shock, but social security was not a mitigating factor. Implications in terms of economic policies are discussed.

Professions and the Social Order: Some Lessons from Burkina Faso?

The study of professions has been dominated by Anglo-American models, with their focus on a small group of legally licensed occupations. The field has recently shifted, mainly through studies of European experience, to a wider examination of the social management of expert workers. Very little has been written about developments in Africa and their implications for the way in which we might think about professions. This paper presents a case study of the role and practices of the medical profession in Burkina Faso, which has a relatively open market for the supply of healing services and limited regulation of the suppliers, whether physicians or traditional practitioners. The study returns to classic questions about the extent to which practice is shaped by the nature of occupational niches within the division of labor or to the development of a distinctive moral character among the workers within that niche.

L'étude des professions a été dominée par les modèles Anglo-Américains, avec leur emphase sur les petits groupes d'occupations légalement autorisées. Ce champ a changé récemment, surtout grâce à des études d'expériences européennes, se dirigeant vers un examen plus large de gestion sociale de travailleurs-experts. Peu a été écrit sur les développements en Afrique et leurs effets sur les manières dont nous réfléchissons à propos des professions. Cet article présente une étude de cas sur le rôle et les pratiques de la profession médicale au Burkina Faso, qui a un marché relativement ouvert pour l'offre de services médicaux et une réglementation limitée pour les prestataires, qu'ils soient médecins ou des 'practiciens' traditionnels. Cette étude revient aux questions classiques liées aux pratiques influencées par la nature des niches occupationnelles à l'intérieur de la division du travail ou le développement d'un caractère moral distinctif entre les travailleurs à l'intérieur de ces niches.