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The study took place in Kano state in the Sudan savannah agro-ecological zone of Nigeria. More specifically in Bagwai and Garko local governments where four communities were selected namely; Gogori and Liringo (Bagwai), Kafin-Chiri and Garin-Ali (Garko). These areas are renown for having a high concentration of sweet potato producers, processors and consumers. Four Key Informant Interviews (KII), Eight-disaggregated Focus Group Discussions (FGD), Individual Interviews (II) with 40 community members and Six Market Interviews (MI) with key individuals or groups were conducted. The most prevalent farming practice by men and women in Bagwai was monocropping while in Garko it was intercropping. Sweetpotato was ranked the most important crop in all the communities during the dry season. However in the rainy season, sorghum took precedence. In addition, sweetpotato was grown by at least 80% of the people sampled. Activities involved in production of sweetpotato in these communities were gender- specific, for example women were mostly involved in planting the vine cuttings and harvesting. The respondents indicated that they had accessed new sweetpotato varieties in the past 10-20 years; Gogori had received Dan-Izala, those in Liringo it was Dan-Madagali and Dan-Izala while for Garun-Ali it was the variety Dan Barnawa. The most common varieties grown at the time of the study were; Dan-Madagali, Dan-Izala, Dan-Bakalori, Dan-China, Dan-Barnawa and Dan-Batsari. Important characteristics of sweetpotato spanned agronomic, post-harvest, sensory and market attributes such as; mealiness, high yield, high price, big tubers and early maturity., This work was supported by the RTBfoods project https://rtbfoods.cirad.fr, through a grant OPP1178942: Breeding RTB products for end user preferences (RTBfoods), to the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), Montpellier, France, by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF).

A participatory processing diagnosis on fried sweetpotato was conducted with expert fryers to better understand desirable and non-desirable quality characteristics from their perspective. The study encompassed 20 expert fryers across 8 communities in Nigeria (Kano and Kwara States) and Ghana (Bawku, Upper East Region). In both countries, the desirable characteristics of raw sweetpotato for use in the frying operation included; smooth skin, regular shape, big root size, no holes, no off-odours and firmness. The main unit operations involved in preparation were five namely; peeling, slicing, washing, salting and deep frying. Deep frying was the most important unit operation determining the quality of fried sweetpotato product (involved pre-heating vegetable oil 120-185°C). During processing important attributes included; hard when slicing, non-sticky and non-slippery in the hands, uniform colour of slices, non or slight surface moisture and no off-odours. The fried sweetpotato desirable traits were; colour (uniform light brown or yellow/golden, orange with a brown tint), dry/filling/satisfying, hard/strong -at first bite, crispy, not soggy, not oily, and slight-moderately sugary. Preference of the varieties from most to least preferred by processors in Ghana was; Obare, Purupuru, Kuffour and Amuskwera with weighted scores of 32, 21, 16 and 11 respectively. In Nigeria, processors in Kwara State liked Alausa (32) most followed by Pakurumo (21), Tomude (18), Aragbe (12), Mother's Delight (9) and Elege (6) while for those in Kano state it was; Dan Izala (36), Dan China (24), Dan Bakalori (18), Dan Madagali (14), Dan Barmawa (8), Dan Silver (6) and Mother's Delight (6).

L’objectif de l’étude est d’évaluer l’impact de l’utilisation des Technologies de l’Information et de la Communication (TIC) sur la formation du prix et les coûts de commercialisation du riz local au Bénin. Trois TIC ont été concernées : le téléphone portable, la radio et la télévision. L’approche économétrique d’estimation du contrefactuel a été utilisée pour contrôler l’existence d’éventuels biais de sélection. Les résultats ont montré que le téléphone portable est la TIC la plus utilisée. Son usage par les commerçants de riz a induit une augmentation des coûts de commercialisation par suite d’augmentation des charges. Cette augmentation des coûts de commercialisation était répercutée sur le prix de vente. La conception et la mise en oeuvre d’un système d’information sur les marchés de riz peut se baser sur la téléphonie mobile.

Integrating subsistence producers from developing and emerging countries with the world market is seen as a way out poverty. Market integration analyses have been predominately the domain of economists who generally indicate that only socioeconomic and institutional factors such as cost of doing business and trade liberalizations exert influence on subsistence producers integration with markets. The extant literature has however overlooked the role of market orientation (MO) as a main driver of market integration of subsistence producers. Based on three streams of literatures (market integration, MO and embeddedness literatures), this study develops a framework in which MO is on the one hand seen as an antecedent of market integration and on the other hand rooted in embeededness of transaction and social relationships. A distinction is made between reactive and proactive MO. The framework is tested on data obtained from a sample of 183 shrimp fishers from Benin using a structural equation modeling. The results show that not proactive but reactive MO is the main driver of export market integration. In turn export market leads to better livelihood performance of shrimp fishers. Results also show that both MO dimensions are embedded-dependent, with favor support to reactive MO.

Bon nombre d’études ont abordé les déterminants du profit dans les bas-fonds en se basant sur la fonction de production. Ces études ont été critiquées du fait de l’endogénéité des inputs. Le présent article se propose de prendre en compte cette critique. Ce qui permettra aux usagers des bas-fonds de réorienter leur choix par rapport aux cultures à pratiquer. Les données utilisées proviennent d’enquêtes réalisées dans le cadre du projet RAP par le Programme Analyse de la Politique Agricole. La spécification translog de la fonction de profit a été estimée. Ainsi, quatre groupes de facteurs affectent le profit des producteurs. Il s’agit du prix d’engrais, du prix de la main d’oeuvre, de l’aménagement des sites et du type de système de culture pratiqué. Quand le prix d’engrais augmente, le profit du producteur diminue. Le profit des producteurs occupant les sites aménagés est supérieur à celui des producteurs occupant les sites non aménagés. De même, le profit des producteurs cultivant le riz et la grande morelle est supérieur à celui des producteurs cultivant le riz uniquement. L’aménagement des sites affecte négativement la demande d’engrais. Pour améliorer le profit des producteurs, l’aménagement des sites restant devrait être priorisé. De plus, il faudrait rendre disponible les engrais chimiques et faciliter leur accès aux producteurs. Enfin, sensibiliser les producteurs sur la pratique des sous systèmes de cultures profitables dans les basfonds.

In order to diversify the sources of incomes of the country, to reduce the financial risks and to improve the farmers’ revenues, the government of Benin decided to promote new agricultural sectors. One of those new sub-sectors is shea tree which is targeted in this study. Due to the painful of certain stages of shea butter processing, the semi-mechanization was initiated. The paper uses data from a stratified random sample of 198 shea butter producers to assess the adoption and impact of this semi-mechanization in North-Benin. A multinomial probit model is estimated to analyze the factors which explain the adoption of each type of technology. A counterfactual approach drawing from a modern evaluation theory is used to evaluate the impact of this semi-mechanization on producers’ incomes. It result that the adoption of the crusher is influenced by the presence of electricity in the village and by the availability of the family labor. As for the shea nuts grinder, the determinants of its adoption are the membership to a shea butter producers association, the literacy in local language and the availability of the family labor. The results also reveal that the adoption of these technologies increases significantly the producers’ incomes by 103,914 FCFA per year.

Cassava production in Benin is still characterized by low productivity compared to those of sub regional countries. Improved cassava varieties have been then developed. They have been promised to raise the productivity and thereby the income of farmers. This study examines the relationship between agricultural technology adoption and productivity improvement with focusing on high yield cassava varieties. The data used were collected from 267 randomly selected cassava producers in Benin. The paper uses the counterfactual outcomes framework of modern evaluation theory to estimate the Average Treatment Effect (ATE) of high yield cassava varieties adoption on farm-level average yield. Results indicate that the adoption of high yield cassava varieties farm-level average yield.

This study contributes to the debate regarding the competitiveness of developing countries in the context of globalization. To take advantage of this trend, developing countries will have to position themselves properly through new policies and efficiency in production. In Benin, new orientation of agricultural policy concerns the diversification of exported products. Therefore, and due to the decrease of international price of cotton which represents the main exported crop, cashew nut, the second exported crop by Benin, becomes more interesting for government policy. The study quantified cashew nut production farmers’ efficiency using a stochastic production frontier and a cost function combined with numerical classification. Primary data were collected from a stratified random sample of 262 farmers in Benin. Using numerical classification, we distinguished three classes from cashew nut producers with an average plantation area of 3.6; 8.9 and 20 hectares. The results showed that scale effect was absent because larger farmers were not more efficient than the small ones. Results also revealed significant inefficient of input use in cashew nut production in Benin. Yet, about 39 % and 61 % of the cashew nuts’ farmers were technically and economically inefficient, respectively, indicating that farmers could increase output and households income through better use of available resources. The study also revealed that the farmers who were technically and economically inefficient have less experience in of cashew nut production, less contact with the extension structure and are not member of a farmers’ association.

In spite of the socio-economic importance of yam, his production is still facing serious constraints as no availability and inadequacy of seed tubers. In order to cope with these constraints, International of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) has developed improved varieties of which we have TDrs’ varieties. Many years after their extension in Benin, it’s then important to evaluate their adoption rate and identify factors which determine this adoption. This study’s aim is to contribute to this evaluation. Data used came from 202 yam producers randomly selected in villages pertain to Borgou and Collines’s regions. The framework developed by Reed et al. (1991) and the counterfactual outcomes framework estimating the Average Treatment Effect have been respectively used to analyze on the one hand yam producers’ perceptions and on the other hand the rate and determinants of the TDrs varieties’ adoption. Results indicate that the information rate is 44 % and the main factors determine information access are the participation on trials activities, being member of yam producers’ association, contact with extension agents and the revenue proving by yam production. The results also reveal that aptitude to a good pounded yam, yield, markets value and aptitude to be consumed as boiled yam are the main criteria that yam producers are looked for when choosing any yam varieties. Aptitude to a good pounded yam remains the only criterion not met by the TDrs varieties promoting. The adoption of theses varieties is influenced by producers’ access to information, their age and their perception about aptitude to be transformed in chips and markets value. The TDrs population adoption rate is estimated to be 37 % in 2007 and is projected to reach up to 65 % in the long term.

The importance of farmers’ perceptions of characteristics on agricultural innovation adoption has increased these two decades. Empirical studies revealed that in addition to farmers’ socioeconomic characteristics and institutional factors, farmers’ perceptions of the innovation-specific characteristics are particularly important in determining whether or not to adopt them. This study assessed vegetables farmers’ perceptions of botanical extracts and biopesticides compared with current chemical pesticides. It also examined the relationship between farmers’ perceptions and the adoption of botanical extracts and biopesticides. Data were collected from a stratified randomly sample of 198 vegetables farmers selected in vegetable producing zones in Benin and interviewed for their use and perceptions on the efficiency of the botanical extracts and biopesticides on the pests and diseases they faced. The paper used on the one hand the ordered probit to identify factors that are likely to affect farmers’ perceptions and on the other hand the selection model to estimate the impact of these perceptions on botanical extracts and biopesticides adoption. Results indicated that botanical extracts and biopesticides were perceived by farmers to have slow action, require more labor and skill for the extraction and require many sprays. Empirical results from the ordered probit showed that farmers’ perceptions of botanical extracts and biopesticides varied according to their experience in vegetables production, education level, contact with extension agents and researchers as well as gender. The results from the selection model indicate that farmers’ perceptions have currently a negative and significant impact of vegetables on botanical extracts and biopesticides adoption.

This study examines the relationship between agricultural technology adoption and poverty with a focus on New Rice varieties for Africa (NERICA). The NERICAs are a group of rice varieties developed by the Africa Rice Centre during the 1990s, resulting from the inter-specific crosses between the Oryza sativa high yielding rice species from Asia and the locally adapted and multiple-stress resistant Oryza glaberrima African rice species. They are believed to provide great hope for African agriculture. Introduced in Benin in 1998, there has been no published analysis on the impact of their adoption by farmers. The paper uses the counterfactual outcomes framework of modern evaluation theory to estimate the Local Average Treatment Effect (LATE) of NERICA adoption on household expenditure among 268 households from rural Benin. Results indicate that the adoption of NERICA varieties has a positive and significant impact on household expenditure. Furthermore, the impact is higher among female-headed households (161.75 FCFA/day) than male-headed households (128.34 FCFA/day). The findings suggest that there is a scope for reducing poverty through the accelerated adoption of NERICA varieties by farmers.

This study contributes to the debate regarding the competitiveness of developing countries in the context of globalization. To take advantage of this trend, developing countries will have to position themselves properly through new policies and efficiency in production. In Benin, new orientation of agricultural policy concerns the diversification of exported products. Therefore, and due to the decrease of international price of cotton which represents the main exported crop, cashew nut, the second exported crop by Benin, becomes more interesting for government policy. The study quantified cashew nut production farmers’ efficiency using a stochastic production frontier and a cost function combined with numerical classification. Primary data were collected from a stratified random sample of 262 farmers in Benin. Using numerical classification, we distinguished three classes from cashew nut producers with an average plantation area of 3.6; 8.9 and 20 hectares. The results showed that scale effect was absent because larger farmers were not more efficient than the small ones. Results also revealed significant inefficient of input use in cashew nut production in Benin. Yet, about 39 % and 61 % of the cashew nuts’ farmers were technically and economically inefficient, respectively, indicating that farmers could increase output and households income through better use of available resources. The study also revealed that the farmers who were technically and economically inefficient have less experience in of cashew nut production, less contact with the extension structure and are not member of a farmers’ association.