The perception of farmers from the Atacora and Save regions of Benin was studied about the causes and consequences ofland degradation and corrective actions for sustaining soil fertility. Research methods in this diagnostic study included group discussions, using non-standardized unstructured interviews and participant observations. Farmland degradation leading to declining yields, and land tenure arrangements were identified as the main constraints on the sustainability of agriculture. In both regions the farmers stated that climatic changes (less and more irregular rainfall), run off, erosion, and overexploitation of farmlands caused land degradation. Soil fertility status was assessed on the basis of dicotyledonous weeds, soil texture and colour, and soil fauna (earthworm casting activity). Farmers have adapted their cropping systems to the local environment by developing traditional and new strategies and activities that could contribute to maintain or enhance crop productivity. These strategies include animal manure, inorganic fertilizer, crop rotation, a five-year fallow, extensive cropping systems with cassava or egusi melon, and emigration. Land tenure arrangements between landlords and migrants affect strategies that can be applied to maintain soil fertility. The importance of building mutual trust and the need to experiment with different land tenure arrangements are indicated. A framework for interactive research where knowledge is collectively generated is proposed in order to test the effectiveness and applicability of some of these local innovations not yet well understood by conventional science.
The article is an introduction to a series of articles about diagnostic studies carried out by eight PhD students in Ghana and Benin. These studies form a prelude to their experimental action research with groups of farmers to develop technologies that work in local conditions and are acceptable to farmers.A last article reports on a comparison of these eight studies by the ninth PhD student in the Convergence of Sciences (CoS) project. In this introductory article, it is argued that the need to ground agricultural research in the needs and circumstances of farmers is as strong as the need to ground research in the international scientific discourse. It explores the reasons why the West African context requires careful diagnostic studies to be able to design agricultural research that is of any use. It introduces preanalytical choice as an overriding concept to explain why choices that reduce the degrees of freedom have to be made explicitly on the basis of criteria. Such criteria are suggested for the quality of preanalytical choices, and the paper ends by examining the way the CoS project made some of its choices.
The maintenance and utilization of crop genetic diversity is important to ensure food security. The relative importance of yam and cowpea varieties and the influence of the socio-cultural and local economy context on the diversity maintained were analysed in Benin. Whereas the diversity is large, some varieties were rare, other ones on the way of being abandoned or already lost. Socio-cultural as well as economic and agronomic characteristics explained why some of them were still maintained. For example, the early-maturing yam variety Laboko was planted by most farmers to have tubers available in time for religious purposes, and some specific cowpea varieties played a role in the funeral of the parents in law. Farmers' preferences were translated into criteria they use to appreciate varieties. The diversity of the varieties sold on the market and their availability over time reflect farmers' strategies and conservation practices. The large price differences between varieties confirm the variation in quality as perceived by consumers. The most widely grown yam variety, Florido, is available on the market throughout the year but has a very low price. Market price differences among varieties are much smaller for cowpea than for yam. The processes of loss and displacement of some local varieties are described and the need for conservation is addressed. Different factors that may influence the level of varietal diversity in these crops, like the need to synchronize harvesting with high market prices, were analysed in depth. As opposed to mono-disciplinary approaches of scientists to farmers' problems and constraints, farmers show an inter-or trans-disciplinary behaviour and express their preferences through multi-criteria processes.
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