ETUDE DE REFERENCE
(Rapport provisoire)
Baseline study report
Final
University of Parakou, Benin
Dr. Ir. Mohamed Nasser BACO
Dr. Ir. Pierre AKPONIKPE
Dr. Ir. Jonas DJENONTIN
Dr. Ir. Carole SOSSA VIHOTOGBE
March 2016
INTEGRATING MICRODOSE IN THE PRODUCTION OF
TRADITIONAL VEGETABLES TO IMPROVE FOOD AND
ECONOMIC SECURITY OF WEST AFRICAN FARMERS
2
ACRONYMS
Acronyms Definition
CARD Centre for Regional Action for Rural Development
COVADES Corps Volunteers to African Development Economic and Social
ERAD Studies and Applied Research for Sustainable Development
FAFA Easiness of Support to Agricultural Commodities
GSAT Food Security Group
MFIs Micro-Finance Institution
NGO Non Governmental Organization
PACER Support Project for the Rural Economic Growth
PAFICOT Support Project for Cotton Sector Textile
PAMRAD Support Project in Rural World in Atacora and Donga
PANA Program of National Action Adaptation to Climate Change
PDAVV Agricultural Diversification Project by the Valuation of Valley
ProCGRN Conservation Project and Natural Resource Management
AHFS Bill Security by Food Agricultural Intensification
CSAE Communal area for Agricultural Development
CSAE Communal area for the Development of Agriculture
SFA Solidarity France Africa
SONAPRA National Company for Agricultural Promotion
SPSS Statistical Package for Social Sciences
UCCoPMA Communal Cooperatives Union of Producers of Vegetables
URCoPMA Regional Union of Cooperative Producers of Vegetables
IDRC Research Centre for the Development International
3
Contents
ACRONYMS ..................................................................................................................................................... 2
1. Introduction and background ...................................................................................................................... 4
2. Methodology .................................................................................................................................................. 5
2.1. Study area and range of stakeholders involved in the study .................................................................. 5
2.2. Data collected and collection tools ............................................................................................................ 5
2.3. Participatory methodology used ............................................................................................................... 6
2.4. Method and data analysis tools ................................................................................................................ 7
2.5. The limitations or constraints of the study .............................................................................................. 8
3. Results ............................................................................................................................................................ 9
3.1 Socio-cultural and demographic characteristics ...................................................................................... 9
Educational level of producers and traders of leafy vegetables ........................................................... 10
3.2. Land ownership and Acquisition and Use ............................................................................................. 12
3.3. Agricultural Inputs .................................................................................................................................. 12
3.4 Marketing and Consumption of Vegetables by farmers ....................................................................... 20
Consumption of vegetables sheet by producers ..................................................................................... 23
3.5 Post Harvest Technologies on the UIVs .................................................................................................. 24
3.6. Information on Extension Services ........................................................................................................ 26
Factors motivating the producers ........................................................................................................... 29
3.7 Past Agricultural Intervention Programs ............................................................................................... 30
Evaluation of the level of ' information producers on microdosing and methods of management and
conservation of soil and water ................................................................................................................ 32
3.8. Drivers of IVU adoption and commercialization .................................................................................. 34
4. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 35
Acknowledgement ........................................................................................................................................... 36
4
1. Introduction and background
The International Development Research Centre (IDRC, Canada) is one of Benin's technical
and financial partners in the field of rural development. For decades, its interventions are more
oriented towards food security. This project "fertilizer micro-dose association and production
of indigenous vegetables to improve nutrition and economic security for farmers west Africans
(MicroVeg)" is fully funded by IDRC. It is jointly developed by two IDRC-DFTAD research
teams. The ideas stem from two previous projects namely "integrated water management and
soil fertility for sustainable agricultural production in the Sahel (INuWaM project)" and
"Production and use of indigenous vegetables to food and food security sustainable in the
southwest of Nigeria (NiCanVeg project)". The INuWaM project has developed technology
microdose fertilizer which is a technique of precision agriculture and highly desirable. The
NiCanVeg project, meanwhile, has developed simple agronomic technologies for the growing
and processing of indigenous vegetables underutilized. It is the combination of these two results
that justify the overall objective that the project set MicroVeg "Increasing food and nutrition
security and economic empowerment of the poor farmers with resources focus on women in the
sub-region of West Africa through integrations microdosing and vegetable production
underutilized". Specifically, the project aims to
Develop Technology micro dosing of fertilizers and management water technology
adding value and seed production of indigenous vegetables.
Demonstrate and deepen the technology by using two models (platform for innovation
and the broadcast approach satellite).
Accelerate the development of technologies to advance indigenous vegetables
production, improve vegetables returns; promote consumption and added value,
propelling marketing, préserver soil and ecosystems water and fertilizer to enable
savings.
To integrate the successful model in programs food security local, national and regional
through advocacy policy.
5
In Benin, the project revolves around three indigenous vegetables that are Solanum
macrocarpon (gboma), Amaranthus sp (aléfo) and Ocimum graticimum (chayo). Prior to the
effective implementation of this project, a baseline study was initiated. The objective of this
study is to describe the current practices in the production, marketing and consumption of leafy
vegetables in the project areas. It made it possible to gather information on the situation
beforeproject to allow better monitoring and evaluation.
2. Methodology
2.1. Study area and range of stakeholders involved in the study
The study was carried out in five areas namely Benin Parakou/N'Dali, Tchaourou, Boukoumbé,
Djougou/Ouaké and Bohicon/Djidja. These areas represent areas of intervention of MicroVeg
project for which the study was conducted. The choice of the surveyed villages was based on
the importance of the production of vegetables in general and leafy vegetables in particular. A
total of 239 actors randomly selected but favoring gender (all categories), were investigated in
this study (Table 1).
Table 1: Sample size by gender
stakeholders Man Woman Total
Producers 79 52 131
Traders 0 50 50
Consumers 18 40 58
Total 97 142 239
2.2. Data collected and collection tools
The data collected are based on the type of actors and are summarized in table.2
6
Table 2: Data collected and collection tools
Target Data collected Collection Tools
Leafy vegetables
producers
- Socio-cultural and demographic characteristics
- land acquisition method
- Use of inputs
- Marketing and consumption of leafy vegetables
- Use of post-harvest technologies
- Information on extension services
- Intervention of previous farm programs
- Prosperity and food security indicators
Questionnaire conceived
under CSPro software
Traders of leafy
vegetables
- Socio-cultural and demographic characteristics
- Types and quantities of vegetables marketed
- Sources of Supply
-Gender involvement in marketing
- Sociological barriers related to the marketing of leafy
vegetables
- Forms of desired vegetables after processing
Questionnaire conceived
under CSPro software
Leafy vegetables
consumers
- Socio-cultural and demographic characteristics
- Types and quantities of vegetables consumed
- Sources and supply prices,
- Sociological barriers related to leafy vegetable
consumption
- Forms of desired vegetables after processing
Questionnaire conceived
under CSPro software
2.3. Participatory methodology used
To get an overview of the production of leafy vegetables, at least three focus groups were
conducted in each district (Table 3) with the aid of an interview guide. The collected data were
supplemented by participant observation in the field.
Table 3: Point of focus group
7
Districts Farmer
organization
Extension
officers
Gender Total
Parakou / N’Dali 2 2 2 6
Bohicon / Djidja 1 1 1 3
Ouaké / Djougou 1 1 1 3
Tchaourou 1 1 1 3
Boukoumbé 1 1 1 3
Total 6 6 6 18
2.4. Method and data analysis tools
The method used is descriptive and multivariate analysis. The content analysis was used to
transcribe the respondents' statements and identify the key points. Contingency tables were used
to highlight the relationships between variables. The Chi-2 test was used to test the
interdependence on the one hand, between the factors motivating the producers and their home
departments, and secondly, between socio-demographic characteristics (gender, age and
instruction) and interaction of producers with extension agents.
The Student's t test - was used to compare the average quantities of leafy vegetables marketed
by season and prices.
We performed Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Twenty four (24) producer groups were
obtained by crossing gender, age and area of intervention.
For gender, H denotes man and F refers to the woman. Compared to age, 1 = less than 30 years
and refers to young, 2 = between 30 and 55 years to designate adults, 3 = 55 and over to describe
old. The departments were considered intervention areas. Then we distinguishes 4 areas namely
Borgou, Atacora, Donga and Zou. Thus obtained 2 x 3 x 4 = 24 producer groups. For example,
F1BO means a young producer and resident woman in Borgou.
A matrix containing the data on the relative frequency of the variable purchase seed, access to
land and credit, association membership and the use of microdose fertilization and features 24
groups was analysed with the Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The relative frequency is
8
the proportion of responding in the group that gave a positive response to a term given to the
various issues. The different analyzes were performed on SPSS Version 16 software.
2.5. The limitations or constraints of the study
The difficulties encountered in this study can be summarized in two main points:
- The absence of traditional leafy vegetables traders in town
At the village level, farmers identify with traditional leafy vegetables traders, which made the
choice difficult traders. Traders involved in this study are the common scale.
- The absence of specialized processors of traditional leafy vegetables (TLVs)
TLVs are being processed before marketing. Thus, in this context, the study did not take into
account the processing link.
9
3. Results
3.1 Socio-cultural and demographic characteristics
Age, gender, marital status
The leafy vegetable producers are on average older than leafy vegetables traders/marketers.
Indeed, traders’ age varies between 19 and 65 for an average of 38.2 ± 9.9 years, while that of
producers varies between 22 and 80 for an average of 42.4 ± 12.2 years (Table 4).
Table 4: Socio-demographics characteristics of actors
Gender (%) Age (years) Marital status (%)
Men Women Average Standard
deviation
never
married
Married living
together
Other
Producer (N =
131)
60 40 42.4 12.2 4.6 80.9 14.5
Marketers (N =
50)
0 100 38.2 9.9 2 90 8
Production and marketing of leaf vegetables is practiced by married individuals living together.
Similarly, shown in the table that the marketing of leafy vegetables is an exclusively woman
activity and 40% of women are producing leafy vegetables.
Moreover, a cross between the age producers groups (young, adult and old) and gender shows
that young men are more interested (72.4%) in the production of leafy vegetables than young
women ( figure 1).
10
Figure 1: Age category of producers by gender
It appears from the analysis of this figure, that the proportion of men who produce leafy
vegetable decreases with age while that of women increases with age.
Educational level of producers and traders of leafy vegetables
Producers and traders of leafy vegetables received no standard education in majority (76% of
traders and 65% of producers). Only 18% of traders and 32% of producers think they can read
and write (2).
0102030405060708090
100
Less than 30years
Between 30and 55 years
More than 55years
72.461.9 60.3
27.638.1 39.7
(%)
Age category
Woman
Man
11
Figure 2: Level of education of stakeholders
An analysis of the data by region / city surveyed revealed that the leafy vegetables producers
of the district of Boukoumbé ranks first in terms of illiteracy (93.3% cannot read nor write). In
rank, the district followed the district of Tchaourou (72%), of Parakou / N'Dali (65.4%),
Bohicon / Djidja (54.2%) and Djougou / Ouaké (46.2%).
This could negatively affect the adoption of technologies / innovations in leafy vegetables in
areas where the rate of illiteracy is high. Any intervention in these areas should therefore take
account of this crucial fact.
Cooperative life of leafy vegetable producers and advisory service received
The production of leafy vegetables is proving a cooperative activity. Indeed, 73% of producers
feel they belong to an association / cooperative of vegetable production. Of these, more than
half are male (53%). The proportion of men is explained by the prohibitions of the husbands
that would force women producers not to participate in community life. The role of associations
/ cooperatives basically is limited to the welfare assistance of members and facilitation of access
to information related to inputs and credit.
0 20 40 60 80
Unschooled
Primary
Secondery 1
Secondery 2
Post-secondery
64.9
10.7
14.5
7.6
2.3
76
18
6
0
0
(%)
Edu
cati
on
Traders
Produccers
12
For those who do not belong to any association of producers of vegetables, they gave mostly
other reasons (57%) plus the fact that they are not informed of their existence (31.4%), of the
negative previous experience (5.7%) and because of the opposition of members and lack of
money to incorporate (2.9%).
3.2. Land ownership and Acquisition and Use
According to the interviewers, arable land would not constitute a major constraint neither for
women nor for men. Indeed, almost all (93%) of them responded that women have easy access
to arable land as well as men. Thus, women producer acquires arable land mainly by leasing
(63%) and gift (53%). Only 31% of women acquire land by inheritance (Figure 4). For those
who argued that producer wife does not have easy access to land, the reasons given are other
reasons (73%) and not the capital deficiency (18%) and the prohibition of husbands (9%).
Figure 4: Acquisition of arable land by gender
The metayage was found to be exclusive to men. Purchase of land (83%), inheritance (69%)
and other methods (68%) followed.
3.3. Agricultural Inputs
0 20 40 60 80 100
Heritage
Don
Purchase
Location
Product Sharing
Other
69
47
83
37
100
68
31
53
17
63
0
32
(%)
Acq
uis
itio
n o
f la
nd
Man
Woman
13
Access to credit
Despite the high proportion of producers belonging to an organization and the role of these
associations, very few vegetable growers (14%) say they received credit or money in the
account of the production of vegetables. It is important to note that, according to respondents,
the lack of sources of credit is not the main reason (15% of respondents) that justify access to
credit in the account of vegetable production (Figure 5).
Figure 5: Reasons for not access to credit for the production of vegetable
In addition, respondents considered that access to credit in the account of leafy vegetables
production is not a constraint for women. Thus, 87% of them say that women have easy access
to credit for leafy vegetables production.
Seed source by vegetable grown
Growing vegetables leaves in the prospected areas is still a traditional activity. For the three
vegetables namely Solanum (gboma), African basil (chayo) and Amaranth (alefo) seed sources
used are mostly savings from the previous season and other sources (sampling young wild
seedlings and transplants to the field on another plot) (Figure 5). The majority of respondents
15
34
7
8
35 Proportion (%)
No credit source
Not looking for credit
No security
Interest rate high
Personal/Other
14
(85%) say they have not bought seed for the last season and are satisfied with their seed stock
(75%). They gave priority to availability (58% of respondents) and free (25% of respondents)
when choosing seed source.
Figure 6: Leafy vegetables seed source
For producers who buy seeds (15%), purchase sources reported are market and from other
producers. Moreover, data analysis by survey area shown that in the district of Boukoumbé no
purchase seed is recorded (Figure 6) and all producers (100%) in this area told that they are
satisfied with their seed stock. The absence of purchase of seeds could be explained either by
ignorance of the existence of improved leafy vegetable seed, or the lack of point of sale of leafy
vegetables of improved seeds in the area.
0 20 40 60 80
Savings from previous season
Free seed from a neighbor
Buying from a seed company
Buying by carder
Buying from another porducteur
Buying from market
Buying at an agricultural fair
others sources
(%)
seed
so
urc
es
( %
)
Amaranthus
Occimum
Solanum
15
Figure 6: Purchase of seeds by zone
On average, point of purchase seeds for leafy vegetables Solanum (gboma), African basil
(chayo) and Amaranth (alefo) are respectively located at a distance of 27.5 km, 35.4 km and
35.4 km away from producers houses. The average distance of leafy vegetable point of sale per
area is presented in table 5.
Table 5: sources of supply Position leaf vegetable seed
Distance in km
min Max Average Standard
deviation
Parakou / N'dali gboma N = 5 10 60 43 23.9
chayo N = 2 10 60 35 35.4
Alefo N = 8 10 60 44.6 21.6
Tchaourou gboma N = 19 1 38 26.7 9.6
chayo N = 11 15 37 27.7 8.9
Alefo N = 20 15 100 31.5 17.8
Bohicon / Djidja gboma N = 2 5 140 72.5 95.5
chayo N = 1 155 155 155 -
Alefo N = 1 155 155 155 -
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Djougou /Ouaké
Tchaourou Boukoumbé Bohicon /Djidja
Parakou /N'dali
Ensemble
15
24
0
8
27
15(%)
Zone
16
Djougou / Ouaké gboma N = 5 1 5 2 1.7
chayo N = 1 1 1 1 -
Alefo N = 6 1 14 4.5 4.9
Boukoumbé No purchase seed recorded
Together gboma N = 32 1 140 27.5 26.8
chayo N = 15 1 155 35.4 36
Alefo N = 15 1 155 35.4 36
This table shows that very few leafy vegetables producers buy African basil (chayo) seeds." a.
Fertilizers
The use of mineral fertilizers (NPK and urea) is an increasingly practice adopted by leafy
vegetables producers. Indeed almost half of respondents (48%) used mineral fertilizers for the
cultivation of leafy vegetables. This practice was most recorded in Djougou / Ouaké area where
73% of respondents positively answered to the question on the use of mineral fertilizers. This
could be explained by the fact that this zone (Ouaké) is at the Benin-Togo border, which would
promote the import of mineral fertilizers. The importance of the practice in other areas is in the
order of 58%, 50%, 40% respectively for Parakou / N'dali, Bohicon / Djidja Tchaourou. The
district of Boukoumbé occupies the last position in the use of mineral fertilizers. This explains
once again the low intensity of cultivation of leafy vegetables in the area.
In order to identify the types of actors that use mineral fertilizers for the cultivation of vegetable
leaves, a contingency table was made between age categories (young: less than 30 years old,
adults: age between 30 and 55 years old then adult: more than 55 years old) and use of fertilizers
(table 6).
Table 6: Use of mineral fertilizers by age
District Young (%) Adult (%) Old (%)
Parakou / N'dali 47 47 7
Tchaourou 20 50 thirty
Djougou / Ouaké 11 84 5
17
Bohicon / Djidja 0 92 8
Bokoumb é 29 71 0
Together 21 70 9
The table reveals that, whatever the survey area, the use of fertilizers would essentially be a
practiced by adults (age between 30 and 55 years).
Moreover, an assessment of those who use mineral fertilizers based on annual income classes
(low income: less than 250 CFA francs, average income: between 250 and 500 CFA francs and
high income >500 CFA) is presented in table 7, the annual income in thousand CFA francs.
Table 7: Use of mineral fertilizers by income class
District Low (%)
(<250 000 F CFA)
Medium (%)
(250 000 - 500 000
Fr CFA)
High (%)
(<250 000 F
CFA))
Parakou / N'Dali 20 33 48
Tchaourou 20 30 50
Djougou / Ouaké 26 11 63
Bohicon / Djidja 8 50 42
Bokoumbé 71 29 0
Together 25 29 46
According to this table, producers with higher levels of income use more mineral fertilizers
than the other groups of producers except in Bohicon / Djidja and Boukoumbé districts. In the
district of Boukoumbé , there is a high use of mineral fertilizer producers with a low level of
income (71%). Assuming that income is exclusively from the production of vegetables, the little
capacity of fertilizer use techniques could explain the low income level of this category of
actors.
Source of fertilizer supply
18
The fertilizer supply source by farmers is the Ministry of Agriculture represented by the
CARDER (39%). Other sources cited are mainly neighboring countries where fertilizers are
imported and market (Figure 7). Note also the existence of free fertilizer offered by some NGOs
(3%).
Figure 7: Source of mineral fertilizers (NPK and Urea)
Herbicide, insecticide, fungicide and compost
Very few producers (19%) of leafy vegetables use herbicides (Figure 8). The use of fungicides
is almost non-existent (3%). But compared to insecticides, its use is more and more felt (39%).
This would result in the pressure becoming stronger from pests.
Instead insecticides, others actors prefer to use bio-insecticides. Bio-insecticide is obtained by
dissolving 10 soaps “Palmida” in 100 liters of water in which was triturated leaves and seeds
of Neem. The solution obtained is filtered and applied to the leafy vegetables using a watering
can. This method is used by some producers of Parakou.
1
6
3
4
5
39
12
8
22
0 10 20 30 40 50
Free to a neighbor
Free from a government program
Free from NGO
Buying from a company
Buying from NGO
Buying from the Ministry of…
Buying from the market
Buying from a retailer / merchant
Others
(%)
Sou
rce
of
fert
ilize
r
19
Figure 8: Use of other inputs
Inversely, the compost is used by the majority of producers (78%) who mentioned that the
compost is better fertilizer in leafy vegetable production and it is almost free because they
produce it locally (80% of producers).
Moreover, it appears from Table 8 that more than half of producers using the compost do not
use mineral fertilizers. This would justify the relatively small proportion of the leafy vegetables
producers who use mineral fertilizers (48%).
Table 8: Relationship between use of mineral fertilizers and compost in the production
of leafy vegetables
Use of compost Total
Yes No
Use of mineral
fertilizers
Yes Absolute frequency 48 15 63
Relative frequency (%) 47 52 48
No Absolute frequency 54 14 68
Relative frequency (%) 53 48 52
Total Absolute frequency 102 29 131
Relative frequency (%) 100 100 100
19
39
3
78
Proportion (%)
Use of herbicide
Use of insecticide
Use of fongicide
Use of Compost
20
3.4 Marketing and Consumption of Vegetables by farmers
Organization of marketing by producers
The majority of producers (80%) reported to sell leafy vegetables themselves and in lesser
extent their husband or wife (depending on the case). Children and other household members
are weakly involved in leafy vegetables marketing. Similarly, 54% of producers sold the leafy
vegetables in the field. According to them, the sale is made by board or bag / lot but very rarely
by bundle. For those whose products are sold out of the field, the point of sale has averaged
about 7 km and 8 km respectively in dry and rainy seasons. In the latter case, the sale is usually
by bundle.
The average number of leafy vegetables bundles sold by producers in a week varies depending
on the area and season (Table 9). In areas of Parakou / N'dali, Boukoumbé and Djougou / Ouaké,
the average number sold during the dry season bundles is higher than in the rainy season. This
suggests that the producers of leafy vegetables in these areas produce more leafy vegetables in
the dry season than rainy season. One could deduce that water stress does not arise in these
areas contrary to Bohicon/ Djidja and Tchaourou districts. Similarly, producers forsook leafy
vegetable production in favor of cash crops during the rainy season.
Table 9: Average number of vegetables boots sold per week
Average number of boots sold per week
Zoned Season gboma chayo Alefo
Parakou / N'dali rainy (1) 30 (-) (2) 8 (3.55) 1. 25 (-)
dry (18) 163 (250.55) (4) 16 (11.09) (24) 192 (314.72)
Bokoumb é rainy (16) 37 (25.47) 0 (20) 38 (42.65)
dry (23) 61 (53.45) 0 (24) 58 (57.87)
Djougou / Ouaké rainy (14) 73 (51.13) (3) 30 (23.89) (12) 127 (179.44)
dry (22) 93 (51.69) (4) 30 (30.90) (17) 137 (268.69)
Tchaourou rainy (11) 4206 (13530.42) (3) 32 (27.85) (11) 1006 (2984.11)
dry (22) 1223 (5311.84) (3) 123 (113.72) (4) 45 (38.27)
21
Bohicon / Djidja rainy (16) 1463 (3007.40) (13) 547 (1089.37) (10) 546 (1226.60)
dry (10) 405 (633.61) (11) 430 (550.90) (10) 433 (636.33)
Together rainy 1230 (6080.86) 348 (883.00) 345 (1445.59)
dry 163 (325.01) 240 (429.67) 393 (2563.94)
Left parenthesis (effective), right parenthesis (standard - type)
It is also noted that the largest quantities of bundles sold are recorded in areas of Bohicon/
Djidja and Tchaourou. These figures are explained by the presence of agricultural entrepreneurs
who have specialized in the production of leafy vegetables (Figure 9).
Culture d’amarante (alefo) à Kika,
commune de Tchaourou
Amaranth (alefo) farm in Kika, Tchaourou,
August 2015
Amaranth planting in Kika, Tchaourou, August
2015
22
Figure 9: Photographs showing the level of intensity of cultivation of vegetables in Bohicon
and Tchaourou / Djidja.
Moreover, whatever the area of cropping of African basil is very underdeveloped. This is felt
through the small amount sold per season per week and a low involvement of producers in its
culture. For others, this vegetable is a perennial plant, investing in culture is a loss, according
to them. In addition no producer made African basil crop (chayo) in the district of Boukoumbé.
This could be due to the fact that this leafy vegetable appear slightly in Otamari people dietary
habits.
Producer selling price per bunch and per season
The sale price of a bundles of leafy vegetables varies from one season to another and from one
producer to another, except for the district of Boukoumbé. Overall, the average selling price
reported to the producer is respectively 35, 37 and 31 CFA francs for gboma, chayo and alefo
in rainy season and 37,42 and 34 CFA francs in dry season.
Table 10: Average price of a bunch of leaf vegetable
Average selling price of a boot
Zoned Season gboma chayo Alefo
Transport of vegetable to Djidja market,
August 2015
Vegetable seller in Yara, Natitingou, August
2015
23
Parakou / N'dali rainy 31 (12.5) 18 (11.55) 35 (13.69)
dry 45 (69.15) 30 (11.18) 29 (9.17)
Bokoumb é rainy 25 (0) 0 25 (0)
dry 25 (0) 0 25 (0)
Djougou / Ouaké rainy 25 (6.07) 24 (2.58) 24 (1.79)
dry 29 (9.72) 28 (8.54) 28 (8.38)
Tchaourou rainy 50 (21.65) 50 (-) 28 (7.91)
dry 50 (7.91) 50 (-) 44 (10.72)
Bohicon / Djidja rainy 60 (35.86) 66 (37.50) 70 (36.77)
dry 85 (32.78) 82 (31.80) 73 (32.51)
Together rainy 35 (20.01) 37 (24.57) 31 (16.02)
dry 37 (19.15) 42 (27.77) 34 (15.74)
Of all the areas surveyed, the vegetables seem to be more expensive in the dry season than rainy
season except Parakou / N'Dali where alefo (amaranth) proves less in the dry season. This fact
seems quite normal in the sense that the season is favorable to the production of vegetable.
Moreover, it seems that producers are given much more gardening in the dry season because of
their business in cash and food crops in the rainy season.
Consumption of vegetables sheet by producers
The production of leafy vegetables is proving a relatively market-oriented activity. Overall,
91% of producers felt they self-consume less than 10% of their production (Figure 13). This
fact is common to all areas except Djougou / Ouaké where 31% of producers think that they
consume at least 10% of their production. Any among all surveyed farms, none exceeds
consumes over 30% of its production of leafy vegetables.
24
Figure 10: Proportion of leaf vegetables consumed on
3.5 Post Harvest Technologies on the UIVs
Postharvest technologies are still very little known by vegetable growers. Indeed, 83% of
producers think they have never heard of post-harvest technologies for leafy vegetables. For
those who have heard of post-harvest technologies, drying / ventilation technique remains the
most famous (Figure 11).
89100
69
100 9791
0 0
23
0 3 80 0
80 0 10 0 0 0 0 0
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
(%)
Zone
Less than 10%
10 -20 %
20 - 30 %
30 % et plus
83
2 1
2
8
2
1
7 3(%)
Any technology
Drying machine
Fridge
Improved storage hardware
Control of crop pests
Bleaching
Machine pressure
Drying / Ventilation
Other
25
Figure 11: Farmers who have heard of post-harvest technology
17% believe they have heard of these technologies, 42%, 26%, 11% and 5% respectively
believe they used the drying / aeration, the control of the enemies of culture, bleaching and
improved storage hardware last season. Some producers (21% of 17%) used other postharvest
technologies during last season .
As information sources, 27% of those who have heard of post-harvest technologies and other
NGOs cite as sources of information (Figure 12). Other common sources are essentially groups
of producers (23%), producers of producers (18%) and extension agents and radio (4%).
Figure 12: Source of Information on leaves vegetable post-harvest technologies
Furthermore, 46% of the interviewers believe that post-harvest technologies are not easily
accessible to women (Figure 16). Drying / ventilation technology seems the more accessible
for women (7% of producers).
4
23
27
18
4
0
0
0
27
0 10 20 30
Extension officers
Extension officers
NGO
Other producers
Radio
Television
printing press
Demonstration site
Other
(%)
Source of information
26
Figure 13: difficult to access for post-harvest technologies by women
3.6. Information on Extension Services
Interaction extension agents-producers
The interaction between producers and extension agents has been important in the income of
leafy vegetable production. Indeed, 63% of producers interacted with an extension agent on
average three times last season. The proportion of producers have interacted at least once with
an extension agent per area is 96%, 92%, 81%; 42% and 23% respectively for Parakou / N'dali,
Tchaourou; Djougou / Ouaké, Bohicon / Djidja and Boukoumbé. Table 11 shows the proportion
of producers have interacted at least once with an extension agent by gender, education and age.
Table 11: extension of producer-agent Interaction
Interaction
Yes No Total
Read and write Yes 74 26 100
No 58 42 100
Khi-2 test of Pearson; X ² = 0.520; df = 1; p = 0.471
Gender Man 66 34 100
0 20 40 60
Any technology
Drying machine
Fridge
Improved storage hardware
Control of crop pests
Bleaching
Machine pressure
Drying / Ventilation
Other
(%)
27
Woman 60 40 100
Khi-2 test of Pearson; X ² = 3,373; df = 1; p = 0.066
Age Young 59 41 100
Adult 61 39 100
Old 83 17
Khi-2 test of Pearson; X ² = 3,627; df = 2; p = 0.163
This table show that over half of the uneducated and women interact with extension agents.
Similarly, there is also an interaction between extension workers and young people, adults and
even older (over 50% each). The test of Khi-2 Pearson made between the interaction extension
agent producer and the variables gender, age and class instruction gives a probability of greater
significance than 5%. One could therefore conclude that the interaction between producers and
extension agents is not dependent on gender, education and age.
Types of information provided to producers
Information sources relating to the production of leafy vegetables are diverse. According to the
producers, information on the preparation of the land mainly from extension agents while the
extension bulletins and the written press provide other different information than listed (Table
12). Regarding information on the methods of cultivation, growers believe they come mainly
from radio and television. Farmers' organizations are more interested in cooperative activities.
28
Table 12: Type of information by source
Source of information
Information on extension
agent (N =
95)
R Extension
Bulletin (N =
57)
R Radio (N =
95)
R TV (N = 56) R press (N =
50)
R Producer
organization (N =
90)
R
The availability
seed
* 31 4 7 5 34 3 5 5 4 4 32 5
Sources of credict 8 8 5 6 9 8 9 4 2 5 11 8
Other inputs 48 2 9 4 35 2 4 6 4 4 33 4
post-harvest technology
6 9 4 7 9 8 2 7 0 6 14 7
The preparation of the earth
37 3 25 3 29 4 23 2 8 3 28 6
Cultivation methods 51 1 35 2 43 1 25 1 14 2 47 2
marketing 15 7 7 5 16 6 5 5 2 5 42 3
The activities of
cooperative
23 5 5 6 14 7 0 8 0 6 62 1
The weather forecast
2 10 0 8 2 9 20 3 0 6 0 10
other information 20 6 56 1 25 5 5 5 74 1 8 9
* Relative frequency; R = rank
29
Factors motivating the producers
The test Chi-2 Pearson achieved is significant for all variables at 5% (Table 13). This means
that the factors encouraging farmers in leafy vegetable cultivation depend of departments.
Table 13: Factors motivating vegetable producers
Departments Total
Borgou Atakora Donga Zou
Family heritage Motivated 33 0 42 25 26
Not motivated 67 100 58 75 74
Khi-2 test; X ² = 15.590; df = 3; p = 0.001
The value that the community
attached to vegetables
Motivated 39 3 58 4 28
Not motivated 61 97 42 96 72
Khi-2 test; X ² = 30.205; df = 3; p = 0.000
Government policy supporting
the culture of vegetable leaf
Motivated 33 0 46 4 23
Not motivated 67 100 54 96 77
Khi-2 test; X ² = 24.788; df = 3; p = 0.000
Previous reports received by
producers
Motivated 43 0 35 8 25
Not motivated 57 100 65 92 75
Khi-2 test; X ² = 23.663; df = 3; p = 0.000
The table reveals that the producers of the departments of Atacora and Zou are the least
motivated both by the family inheritance, the value attached to leafy vegetables by the
community, government policy supporting leafy vegetable cultivation and previous support
received by producers. Indeed, the family legacy in the present context is reflected in the
possession of family land usable in the production of leafy vegetables. In these areas of the
country, domestic arable land would therefore be a major constraint in the production of leafy
vegetables.
The departments of Borgou and Donga would attach more value to leafy vegetables. This would
explain the fact that the government manage its policies in these departments to promote leafy
vegetable production through donations. The availability of exploitable family land in the leafy
30
vegetable production (family heritage motivating producers) in these departments also explain
this privilege found in those departments.
3.7 Past Agricultural Intervention Programs
The interventions of various structures listed are not specifically oriented towards to leafy
vegetables production particularly but to vegetables production in general. The structures
involved or have been involved in the vegetable production in the areas surveyed are listed in
Table 14.
Table 14: Structures involved or have been involved in the production of vegetables
Areas structures Supports and interventions
Zou (Bohicon /
Djidja)
SONAPRA Training on the use of pesticides, mineral fertilizers
and compost
UN-ABITAT Funding for training the r embodiment compost
microfinance
ALIDE
- Training on r embodiment budget, revenue
management methods
- Allocation of funds
CSAE Followed producers
Djougou /
Ouaké
FAFA financial and trade agreement
MFIs Agreement credits
CARD Support institutional and organizational
AHFS Support equipment
URCoPMA Support - advice
ADF Am enagement Site Bohomdor (Ouaké)
PAFICOT Support - advice
PANA1 Support - advice
PACER Support - advice
ERAD NGOs Support - advice
COVADES NGOs Support - advice
31
ProCGRN Support - advice
PAFUR Support - advice
Boukoumbé CEJEDRAO Don of gardening equipment
SFA Don of gardening equipment through FeDeB
UFEDEB - Training on making compost, pr separation of
boards and transplanting
- Training on the management of financial
resources
BTC Support - advice
CEJEDRAO Support - advice
BUBDOS Support - advice
Islands of Peace Support - advice
PROTOS Am irrigation énagements
PADAR Support - advice
PACER Support - advice
Tchaourou FNPEJ Agreement credits
SIASON
microfinance
Agreement credits
PASDER support technical
CSAE - Production Technology
- Development Technique of lowlands
PSAA Support - advice
Parakou / N'Dali AFID NGOs Support - advice
PA3D Technical support and donations of equipements
PASDER Technical support and donations of equipements
4D NGOs Support and advice
APIC NGOs Support - advice
GSAT NGOs Support - advice
BUPDOS NGOs Support - advice
32
PDAVV Technical support and equipement, drilling
realization
Evaluation of the level of ' information producers on microdosing and methods of
management and conservation of soil and water
The PCA made on the relative frequencies of indicators of intensification and microdosing in
leafy vegetables production showed that 79% of information is supported by the first two axes
(components Z1 and Z2). The correlations between indicators of the intensification and
microdosing in leafy vegetables production and these two axes are presented in Table 15.
Table 15: Correlation matrix between information indicators on microdosing and the
first two components
Information indicators on microdosing Axis 1
(Z 1)
2 axis
(Z 2)
Have heard or use methods conservation of soil and water or other
forms of soil fertility management for the production of leafy vegetables
0.962 0.062
Have heard or used microdose fertilization 0.951 0.074
Seed purchase last season 0,040 0.839
Fertilizer use for the production of leafy vegetables 0.502 0.774
Access to credit for the production of leafy vegetables -0.032 0.753
The first axis (Z 1) includes variables '' Having heard of or use methods of soil conservation
and water or other forms of soil fertility management for the production of leafy vegetables ''
and '' Having heard of or use or fertilization microdose ''. The second axis (Z 2)has three
variables namely ''Leafy vegetable seed purchase during last season'' '' 'Use of mineral
fertilizers for leafy vegetables production '' and '' Access to credit for leafy vegetable
production''.
The projection of subgroups surveyed in the plane defined by the two axes shows great
variability in the indications microdosing and increased production of leafy vegetables (Figure
14).
33
Figure 14: ACP showing the relationship between indicators of intensification of
production of leafy vegetables and socio-demographic characteristics of producers
Young and adults people of Atacora and Donga departments (men as women) are in the positive
axis zone 1 (Z 1). Thus, young and adults people of these departments have heard of or used at
least once microdose and fertilization management and conservation of soil and water. This
seems reasonable in this context where these two areas accounted areas of intervention
INuWaM project. Indeed, in these areas, on-farm experiments were conducted on microdosing
and management and conservation of soil and water for the cultivation of corn. This suggests
that young and adults people of these areas, more active than the old, are informed of these
technologies (14.5% of producers) and about one in three of these would have tried the leafy
vegetables production. The old people would prefer to use old technologies than trying a new
little mastered.
34
Among those who seem to have information on the micro-dosing, only adults of Donga
department buy mineral fertilizers and leafy vegetables seed.
On the other hand, in the departments of Borgou and Zou, producers (except old for men and
young for women) buy mineral fertilizers and seed.
3.8. Drivers of IVU adoption and commercialization
Vegetable forms desired by shopping after transformation
The surveyed traders would transform leafy vegetables before commercialization. The desired
form by more than 80% of the interviewers and the three vegetables is the dried form (Table
15). They believe that this form of transformation would be cheaper. According to them, the
practice of this transformation would limit the enormous losses when demand is low. Mixing a
vegetable to another is also another form of processing desired by the traders (over 60%).
Table 15: Vegetable forms desired by traders after transformation
gboma chayo Aléfo
vegetable form P R P R P R
Dried 86 1 81 1 87 1
Mixture to other
vegetable
62 2 71 2 64 2
frozen 45 3 62 3 42 3
bleached 17 4 14 4 16 4
P = relative frequency; R = rank
Regarding toblanching, this form of transformation is weakly desired by traders (less than 20%)
who reported that the vegetable obtained after blanching - quick passage of the leafy vegetable
in boiling water - will be very difficult to maintain when not totally sold on the same day.
The bundling remains the value added practiced by traders of leaf vegetables (98%). Only 31%
of respondents sort out them before bundling.
Vegetable forms desired by consumers after transformation
35
Contrary to traders who would sell leafy vegetables at dried form, consumers would like a mix
of leafy vegetables (Table 16). Whatever the leafy vegetable, froze and blanched forms are
weakly desired by consumers (3 rd and 4 th place respectively).
Table 16: Vegetable forms desired by consumers
Gboma Chayo Alefo
Vegetable form P R P R P R
Dried 65 2 71 2 61 2
Mixture to other
vegetable
78 1 80 1 69 1
Frozen 33 3 38 3 31 3
Bleached 15 4 9 4 16 4
P = relative frequency; R = rank
4. Conclusion
This study analyzed the system of production, marketing and consumption of leaf vegetables in
Borgou, Atacora, Donga and Zou departments. The production of leafy vegetables in these areas
is not an activity to a specific gender contrary to marketing that is practiced exclusively by
women. Young men are more interested in the production of leafy vegetables than young
women. They are uneducated majority with a predominance of the phenomenon Bokoumbé.
Producers of leafy vegetables in combination with the cash crop seems to have an annual
income better than the exclusive vegetable producers. Vegetables are sold on the field and
marketing is provided by the manufacturer itself. At the producer level, leafy vegetables are
more expensive in the dry season than rainy season.
Access to credit is a key impediment to producers. The seeds used provided from savings of
previous season. Mineral fertilizers are used by adults and producers with relatively high annual
income. Seed sales points are very distant and producers depend on the Ministry of Agriculture
for the purchase of fertilizers. Mostly mineral fertilizers are replaced by using compost. Insect
pressure is felt more and more through the use of insecticides.
36
Post-harvesting techniques are ignored by almost all producers. The technique of drying /
ventilation remains the best known. NGOs are frequent sources of information on post-harvest
technologies. Similarly, the interaction between producers and extension agents is not
dependent on gender, education and age.
Facing a food shortage, strategies vary according to the areas and the most common is to lend
money to buy food or buy food on credit.
Leafy vegetables sold by traders mainly from the producers. Whatever the vegetable, the
quantity marketed in the dry season, where vegetables are more expensive, is higher than that
sold in the rainy season. The traders would sell leafy vegetables in the dried form. Added values
applied by traders are bundling.
Leafy vegetables consumers are supplied primarily to market from retailers. Gboma and aléfo
are most consumed. The leafy vegetables are more expensive in urban markets than rural
markets. Contrary to traders, consumers would like a mix of leafy vegetables.
Acknowledgement
We thank the International Development Research Center (IDRC) to financially support this
study. We also thank the actors in the value chain who spared no effort to provide information
during the data collection.