Analysis of cropland allocation in rural areas Benin: A fractional multinomial approach

• Main Author: Gilbert Onionkiton Adjimoti
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2018-01-01
• Series: Cogent Food & Agriculture
• Subjects: land allocation; crop diversification; benin; fractional multinomial; policy
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23311932.2018.1488339

This study uses primary data collected from 522 farm households in the Collines region in Benin and Fractional Multinomial Logit to access and analyse the factors affecting cropland allocation in rural Benin, considering four groups of crops: cereals, root and tuber, legumes and other industrial crops. We found that land allocation between crops is a challenging process for rural household who have to consider many factors when choosing the size of cropland. Household size, access to extension services and fertilizer play an important role in allocating land for cereal crops while the type of labour use, the membership to farmer-based association and total land size affect household land allocation to industrial crops. The study recommends that the ongoing crop diversification policy in the country should be more inclusive and provide realistic support to every categories of farmers based on cropping pattern and also consider the agricultural land reforms.