Impact Of Agricultural Market Reforms On Smallholder Farmers In ...

It is interesting to note that the probability that a given crop will be fertilized is also affected by
whether or not the farm grows cotton. This is most striking in the case of maize, which is fertilized
by 59 percent of cotton growers, but just 18 percent of non-cotton growers. In other words, the use
of fertilizer on maize is three times more common among cotton farmers compared to other
farmers. To a lesser degree, sorghum/millet and rice are also more likely to be fertilized when
grown by cotton farmers (see Table 4.1.54). This reflects the fact that cotton farmers are able to
purchase fertilizer and other inputs on credit from SONAPRA through the local Groupement
Villageois.
Cotton farmers account for 87 percent of the volume of fertilizer purchased by small farmers in
Bénin. Because of the diversion of fertilizer to other crops, cotton fields account for just 65 percent
of the national volume. This implies that three-quarters of the fertilizer purchased by cotton
farmers is used on cotton but another quarter is “diverted” to other crops 6 . Of this 25 percent that is
diverted, most is applied to maize fields cultivated by cotton farmers (see Table 4.1.55)
Non-cotton growers account for about 13 percent of national fertilizer use by farm households. Of
this amount, close to half is applied to maize, while the remainder is applied to piment, tomatoes,
and other vegetables. (see Table 4.1.55).
Fertilizer use among different types of households The use of fertilizer differs sharply
across regions within Bénin, however. In Borgou and Zou, over two-thirds of the farmers use
fertilizer. Farmers that use fertilizer in these two departments apply over 600 kg/farm on average
and spend close to 130 thousand FCFA on fertilizer. The overall application rate (including both
users and non-users) is 87 kg/ha in Borgou and 77 kg/ha in Zou. These high rates of fertilizer use
are linked to cotton production and the availability of fertilizer on credit. As will be discussed later,
over 60 percent of the farmers in Borgou and Zou grow cotton and thus have access to fertilizer on
credit (see Table 4.1.56).
The lowest fertilizer use is in Atlantique, where just 10 percent of the farms use fertilizer and those
that do apply just 186 kg/farm on average (see Table 4.1.56). The low level of fertilizer use is
related to the fact that farmers in Atlantique do not grow cotton and generally do not have access to
inputs on credit
6
Sixty-five percent of the total is applied to cotton and 87 percent of the total is used by cotton
farmers, so 75 percent (0.65/0.87) of that used by cotton farmers is applied to cotton.
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