Inventory credit as a commitment device to save grain until the hunger season
Résumé
In January 2013, we collected data from 653 farmers in Burkina Faso, whowere asked hypothetical questions about risk aversion and time discounting. Ten months later, these farmers were offered the opportunity to participate in an inventory credit system, also called warrantage, in which they receive a loan in exchange for storing a portion of their harvest as a physical guarantee in one of the newly-built warehouses of the program. We found that farmers who exhibit stronger hyperbolic preferences are significantly more likely to participate in the warrantage system than other, otherwise similar, farmers. We interpret this result as evidence that farmers use warrantage as a means to commit to saving a portion of their crop until the lean season, which may improve their capacity to ensure the food security of their household