Three essays on rural household vulnerability in developing countries: risks, strategies and impacts.

Summary Uncertainty weighs heavily on rural households in developing countries. This thesis aims to better understand the consequences of this vulnerability on behavior and to analyze the implementation and impact of risk management strategies, both internal and external to the household. The first chapter focuses on the effect of exposure to land risk on savings behavior in Angola. It establishes that households without property documents are not able to accumulate precautionary savings. This self-hedging behavior only occurs when several risks are accumulated. The second chapter focuses on intra-household decision-making in the choice of diversification strategies. It examines the allocation of women's work time in Senegal between domestic work and income-generating activities. A separate spheres model with a transfer between spouses is validated. The weak role of financial incentives and the importance of bargaining power are demonstrated. The last chapter analyzes the impact on household vulnerability of an external intervention through a program aimed at access to energy services. Its impact is measured on child nutrition. The results show a positive and progressive effect of the presence of infrastructure on long-term nutrition. The intensity of operation reduces short-term malnutrition. A diffusion effect is also established. These three chapters show the inability of households to implement strategies to combat vulnerability independently. They then demonstrate the need to develop access to markets in rural areas. Finally, the role of external intervention in providing management tools to households is highlighted.