ETUDE DE REFERENCE (Rapport provisoire)

INTEGRATING MICRODOSE IN THE PRODUCTION OF TRADITIONAL VEGETABLES TO IMPROVE FOOD AND ECONOMIC SECURITY OF WEST AFRICAN FARMERS

Baseline study report Final University of ,

Dr. Ir. Mohamed Nasser BACO Dr. Ir. Pierre AKPONIKPE Dr. Ir. Jonas DJENONTIN Dr. Ir. Carole SOSSA VIHOTOGBE

March 2016

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

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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

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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 (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.

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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, , Boukoumbé, /Ouaké and /. 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

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Table 2: Data collected and collection tools Target Data collected Collection Tools Leafy vegetables - Socio-cultural and demographic characteristics Questionnaire conceived producers - land acquisition method under CSPro software - 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 Traders of leafy - Socio-cultural and demographic characteristics Questionnaire conceived vegetables - Types and quantities of vegetables marketed under CSPro software - Sources of Supply -Gender involvement in marketing - Sociological barriers related to the marketing of leafy vegetables - Forms of desired vegetables after processing Leafy vegetables - Socio-cultural and demographic characteristics Questionnaire conceived consumers - Types and quantities of vegetables consumed under CSPro software - Sources and supply prices, - Sociological barriers related to leafy vegetable consumption - Forms of desired vegetables after processing

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

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Districts Farmer Extension Gender Total organization officers 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

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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.

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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 never Married living Other deviation married together Producer (N = 60 40 42.4 12.2 4.6 80.9 14.5 131) Marketers (N = 0 100 38.2 9.9 2 90 8 50)

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).

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100 90 27.6 38.1 39.7 80 70 60 (%) 50 Woman 40 72.4 61.9 60.3 30 Man 20 10 0 Less than 30 Between 30 More than 55 years and 55 years years Age category

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).

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0 Post-secondery 2.3

0 Secondery 2 7.6

6 Secondery 1 14.5 Traders

Education Produccers 18 Primary 10.7

76 Unschooled 64.9 (%) 0 20 40 60 80

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.

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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%).

Other 68 32

Product Sharing 100 0

Location 37 63 Man 83 17 Purchase Woman

Acquisition of land of Acquisition Don 47 53

Heritage 69 31

0 20 40 60 80 100 (%)

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

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 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).

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35 Proportion (%)

No credit source Not looking for credit No security Interest rate high 34 Personal/Other

8 7 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

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(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.

others sources

Buying at an agricultural fair

Buying from market

Buying from another porducteur Amaranthus Buying by carder Occimum Solanum

Buying from a seed company seed sources ( %) ( sources seed

Free seed from a neighbor

Savings from previous season

0 20 40 60 80 (%)

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.

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30 27 25 24

20 15 15 (%) 15

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5 0 0 Djougou / Tchaourou Boukoumbé Bohicon / Parakou / Ensemble Ouaké Djidja N'dali Zone

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 -

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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

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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 (%) Medium (%) High (%)

(<250 000 F CFA) (250 000 - 500 000 (<250 000 F Fr CFA) 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

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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%).

Others 22

Buying from a retailer / merchant 8

Buying from the market 12

Buying from the Ministry of… 39

Buying from NGO 5

Buying from a company 4 Source of fertilizer of Source Free from NGO 3

Free from a government program 6

Free to a neighbor 1

0 10 20 30 40 50 (%)

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.

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Proportion (%)

Use of herbicide Use of insecticide Use of fongicide 78 39 Use of Compost

3 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 Yes Absolute frequency 48 15 63 fertilizers 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

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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)

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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).

Amaranth (alefo) farm in Kika, Tchaourou, Amaranth planting in Kika, Tchaourou, August Culture d’amarante (alefo) à Kika, August 2015 2015 commune de Tchaourou

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Transport of vegetable to Djidja market, Vegetable seller in Yara, , August August 2015 2015

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

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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.

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120 100 100 97 100 89 91 80 69 (%) 60 40 Less than 10% 23 10 -20 % 20 8 8 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 20 - 30 % 0 30 % et plus

Zone

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).

(%) 2 7 3 1 Any technology Drying machine 8 2 Fridge 1 2 Improved storage hardware

Control of crop pests

Bleaching

Machine pressure

83 Drying / Ventilation

Other

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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%).

Source of information Other 27 Demonstration site 0 printing press 0 Television 0 Radio 4 Other producers 18 NGO 27 Extension officers 23 Extension officers 4

0 10 20 30 (%)

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).

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Other

Drying / Ventilation

Machine pressure

Bleaching

Control of crop pests

Improved storage hardware

Fridge

Drying machine

Any technology

0 20 40 60 (%)

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

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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.

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Table 12: Type of information by source Source of information Information on extension R Extension R Radio (N = R TV (N = 56) R press (N = R Producer R agent (N = Bulletin (N = 95) 50) organization (N = 95) 57) 90) The availability * 31 4 7 5 34 3 5 5 4 4 32 5 seed 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 6 9 4 7 9 8 2 7 0 6 14 7 technology The preparation of 37 3 25 3 29 4 23 2 8 3 28 6 the earth 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 23 5 5 6 14 7 0 8 0 6 62 1 cooperative The weather 2 10 0 8 2 9 20 3 0 6 0 10 forecast other information 20 6 56 1 25 5 5 5 74 1 8 9 * Relative frequency; R = rank

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 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 Motivated 39 3 58 4 28 attached to vegetables Not motivated 61 97 42 96 72 Khi-2 test; X ² = 30.205; df = 3; p = 0.000 Government policy supporting Motivated 33 0 46 4 23 the culture of vegetable leaf Not motivated 67 100 54 96 77 Khi-2 test; X ² = 24.788; df = 3; p = 0.000 Previous reports received by Motivated 43 0 35 8 25 producers 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

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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 / SONAPRA Training on the use of pesticides, mineral fertilizers Djidja) and compost UN-ABITAT Funding for training the r embodiment compost microfinance - Training on r embodiment budget, revenue ALIDE management methods

- Allocation of funds CSAE Followed producers Djougou / FAFA financial and trade agreement Ouaké 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

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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 Agreement credits microfinance 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

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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 2 axis (Z 1) (Z 2) Have heard or use methods conservation of soil and water or other 0.962 0.062 forms of soil fertility management for the production of leafy vegetables 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).

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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.

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Among those who seem to have information on the micro-dosing, only adults of 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 62 2 71 2 64 2 vegetable 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

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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 78 1 80 1 69 1 vegetable 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.

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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.

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