Organisations Paysannes Et Amélioration Des Revenus Agricoles dans le Département du Diamaré : Mythe Ou Réalité ?

Farmers’ organisations (FOs) have gained increasing prominence in agricultural development policies in Far-North, where they are often portrayed as a key instrument for improving smallholders’ incomes. However, the actuel effects of this organisations on farm income remain contested, particularly in vulnerable Sahelian regions. This article examines the impact of membership in farmers’ organisations on agricultural income in the Far-North Region of Cameroon. The study adopts a mixed-method approach, combining quantitative household surveys of both FO members and non-members with semi-structured interviews of FO leaders. Econometric analysis is used to estimate the effect of FO membership on farm income, while qualitative analysis provides insights into the institutional and organisational mechanisms underlying income outcomes. The expected findings suggest that membership in farmer’s organisations is associated with a moderate improvement in agricultural income, but that this effect is neither systematic nor uniform across producers. Income gains appear to be strongly conditioned by the degree of market integration of the organisations, the quality of internal governance, and farmers’ initial asset endowments. Moreover, the benefits of membership tend to be unevenly distributed within organisations, limiting their potential to improve the livelihoods of the most vulnerable households. Overall, the argue that farmers’ oraganisation represent a conditional development lever rather than a universal solution for income improvement. These results call for differentiated and context-specific policy interventions aimed at strengthening the economic and institutional capacities of farmers’ organisations.