For Moises and Donghun ( 2011), the dampening effect of international remittances on poverty is more noticeable for the 10% poorest countries. ( 2006), if the share of remittances to GDP increases by 1%, it results in a decrease of 0.4% of poverty rates. Regarding the old scourge of poverty, Adams and Page ( 2005), working on developing countries, showed that remittances reduce poverty, by lowering the number of people living under the poverty threshold by 3.5%.

Remittances play a key role in reducing the negative impacts of a broad variety of shocks, (both before and after the shocks), but there is no unanimity in the direction of this impact. Though SSA countries do not rank among the top remittance-receiving countries, worker’s remittances more than doubled between 20 (Mohapatra & Ratha, 2012). This decline is projected to be 23.1% in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Regarding the current situation, the World Bank predicts a sharp decline by 20% of global remittances resulting from the impact of covid 19 and national shutdowns. As a matter of fact, the 2030 development agenda emphasizes their importance in target 10c that aims to reduce to “less than 3% the transaction costs of migrant remittances and eliminate remittance corridors with costs higher than 5%” (UNDP, 2020). These inflows however represent an important source of income for poorer households in developing countries. According to the World Bank, a decline in the amount of remittances is expected, and stems from the fall in the incomes of migrant workers in their countries of destination, as they are usually the most vulnerable on the labor market (World Bank, 2020). From the economic point of view, projections are alarming for many sectors of the economy. The ongoing Covid 19 pandemic has undoubtedly affected the lives of millions of people whether directly or indirectly. This result suggests that remittances can help households to set up businesses and be less dependent on climatic conditions. Secondly, using a national survey on migration conducted in the country, we found that receiving international remittances increases the probability of setting up a non-agricultural business. Using data from several sources such as the World Bank indicators and national surveys, this chapter aims firstly to understand the trends of remittances flows in the country for the last decade. The country also has a great history of migration mainly written by its colonial past. This chapter focuses on Burkina Faso, a West African country where more than 80% of the population practice subsistence agriculture, and bear heavily the consequences of poor climatic conditions, exacerbated by the ongoing climate change. Nevertheless, these transfers sometimes exceed Official Development Aid (ODA) and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in some parts of the World such as Sub-Saharan Africa, demonstrating their importance for promoting socio-economic development. They have been fast growing for the last decade, but like any other income, they fluctuate with economic conditions which are affected by several shocks, such as the ongoing covid 19 pandemic.

Remittances are one of the precious spin-offs of international migration in developing countries.

Upper volta colonial impact