Land use change and food security: Has introduction of rice production in cotton zone in benin met optimal allocation of resources by households?

Abstract

Land use is one of the major source of soil fertility decline and food insecurity. In Benin where cotton is the main cash crop, the potential of cultivating rice exists even in cotton cultivation zone. Rice is seen nowadays as a staple food and the national production is insufficient to meet national consumption. Change in land use becomes obvious and the farmers cultivate several crops during the agricultural campaign which enter in competition in terms of resources use. This study has investigated the allocation of resources to different crops in cotton zone using primary data collected from a sample of 71 farmers randomly selected in two villages in the Northern region of Benin (West Africa). The model built showed that rice is the most profitable crop while cotton gross margin is low. It reduces then the area of cotton for about 56 %. It allows the production of maize, sorghum, peanut and the soy bean for ensuring the food availability of the household whereas rice and the bean have an economic importance. It gives a possibility to farmers to cultivate the same amount of land with less amount of labour force and gain 18 % more income than previously. From these results the agricultural policy need to be orientated to the training of farmers on practices and on the best way to allocate resources in order to achieve a good production. The arrangement of inland valley needs to be done to allow farmers to have more areas of inland valley for rice cultivation.