This study attempted to analyse the link between trade openness and poverty in Côte d’Ivoire. Indeed, trade can be a powerful instrument of poverty reduction if changes are made in the domestic and external policies. This essentially consists in improving the structure of the value chains for the benefit of the poor. One of the objectives of the liberalization of important sub‐sectors of the economy actually consisted in improving the income of producers, the principal actor of the sub‐sector through a transparent operation of the market free from official interventionism. The relation between liberalization and trade received a very a great deal of attention at the end of the 20th century. However, it remains difficult to establish a robust link between these two phenomena the World Bank recognized. This situation results from the fact that it influences individuals in several ways. It can influence their income through employment, allocation of resources and/or economic growth. It can also affect the expenditure of individuals through consumer prices.
