Examples drawn from a range of studies in the development literature show that people earn additional income in different ways according to the paid work that is available. For example, a study in south-eastern Burkina Faso showed the importance of other work to farmers in an area bordering Ghana. Such activities include small scale food-processing, petty trading and basket making. Women, men and children take on different work. Men resell food grains on a large scale, make baskets and move in search of seasonal work.
Women sell millet beer, processed foods and trade in cereals on a small scale.
Children resell products such as cigarettes and provide services such as shoe shining. The existence of vibrant markets and cross-border trade enable people to increase their sources of income and so boost their security. It also allows investment in agriculture. People living further from the border do not benefit from the same range of activities and find it difficult to break out of a mainly subsistence survival strategy. Constraints that prevent people from taking up work other than agriculture include prohibitive government policies, a sparse local population, remoteness from border regions and lack of contact with active non-government organisations.