Determinants of the simultaneous adoption of agro-ecological practices by cotton producers in northern Benin.

Abstract

Aware of the environmental damage attributable to conventional agricultural practices as well as the negative social and economic impacts that they generate, on biodiversity´ and ecosystems, agro-ecology is presented as an alternative agricultural development model capable of reconciling agricultural production with better conservation of renewable resources. Despite the many interests of agro-ecology, some traditional agro-ecological practices, such as shea parks, have indeed struggled to sustain themselves, while recent agro-ecological innovations, such as sowing under plant cover, and others are widely adopted. The objective of this article is to identify the factors that influence the simultaneous adoption of several agroecological practices through the ordinary least squares method. The study was conducted in four municipalities in northern Benin, namely Parakou, Banikoara, Kandi and Bèmbèrèkè with two hundred and nineteen (219) randomly selected agro-ecological producers. The results show that planned biodiversity, age, experience and income positively influence many agro-ecological practices implemented. Identifying the main factors likely to explain the ability of farms to use several agro-ecological practices simultaneously will certainly be of great interest, particularly in terms of means of action to improve the management of technologies at the farm level.