| Titre |
Determinants of crop-livestock integration by small farmers in Benin |
| Auteurs |
KOURA B. Ivan [1],
DEDEHOUANOU HOUINSOU [2],
DOSSA HIPPOLYTE GBÉNAKPON LUC HIPPOLYTE [3],
KPANOU Karl [4],
HOUNDONOUGBO M. FRÉDÉRIC [5],
HOUNGNANDAN PASCAL [6],
MENSAH GUY APOLLINAIRE [7],
HOUINATO MARCEL ROMUALD BENJAMIN [8],
|
| Journal: |
International Journal of Biological and Chemical Sciences (IJBCS) |
| Catégorie Journal: |
Africaine |
| Impact factor: |
0.31 |
| Volume Journal: |
9 |
| DOI: |
|
| Resume |
Despite the numerous work conducted on integrated crop-livestock systems, very little is known
about factors determining farmers’ trend to integrate. Our study aimed at a socioeconomic characterization of
endogenous crop-livestock integration in Benin and identification of determinants of farmers’ decision to use
these practices. Two hundred and forty farmers were surveyed in three agro-ecological regions randomly
selected. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect information on farmer’s characteristics,
production factors and agriculture and breeding by-products valorization practices. On the basis of main links
between both productions, three integration levels (no integration, NI: 36%; partial integration, PI: 55%; total
integration, TI: 9%) were identified and characterized according to socioeconomic characteristics of farmers.
Then the multinomial logistic regression technique was used to predict the integration level of a given farmer
in function of its socioeconomic characteristics. The three integration levels differ significantly (p<0.001)
according to variables such as membership in farmers’ association, educational level, weight of agricultural
experience, farming equipment and size of herds. The decision by a farmer to choose the total integration type
significantly depends (p <0.001) on the size of his cattle herd, his membership in farmers’ association, the
weight of his agricultural experience and his equipment value. Thus, integration is a practice used by small
farmers with good experience in agriculture. Strategies for improving integration of cropping and breeding are
to motivated farmers for cattle keeping and membership in an association. |
| Mots clés |
Animal feeding, integrated soil fertility management, resilience, sustainability |
| Pages |
2272 - 2283 |
| Fichier |
 (PDF) |