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

Poor households are more likely to report a decline in crop price volatility than richer households
(see Table 4.1.125). This is partly the result of the large number of poorer household in Atacora.
In any case, this is a positive trend because poor households generally considered the most
vulnerable to fluctuations in agricultural prices.
Availability of market information With the creation of the Office National d’Appui a la
Securité Alimentaire (ONASA), the role of the government in food markets has been changed from
direct intervention to maintaining strategic grain stocks and providing market information. The
results of the survey indicate that there has been some improvement in the availability of market
information. Thirty-seven percent of the households report an improvement, while just 8 percent
report a deterioration. The responses are most positive in Atacora (where 86 percent report
improvement), followed by Borgou, Ouémé, and Mono. Little or no net improvement is reported
by households in Atlantique and Zou (see Table 4.1.126). In the case of Atlantique, the availability
of information was probably fairly good even in 1992 as a result of the density of economic activity
and proximity of the major urban centers.
Road conditions This is the one area investigated in which farm households generally
perceive a deterioration. Almost 40 percent of the respondents say that road have deteriorated since
1992, while barely 31 percent say that roads have improved. Household were positive in Atacora
and Mono, but negative in Atlantique, Borgou, and Zou (see Table 4.1.127). It is interesting to note
that satisfaction with the changes in road conditions appears to decline as expenditure rises. The
households in the poorest expenditure categories are fairly positive, while those in the highest two
expenditure categories are distinctively negative (see Table 4.1.128).
Crop storage
Since agricultural production occurs at specific times during the year, but food
consumption occurs throughout the year, storage is necessary to match supply and demand. The
results of the IFPRI-LARES Small Farmer Survey indicate that much of the storage of agricultural
commodities occurs on the farm. This section describes patterns in farm-level crop storage in
Bénin.
Storage facilities Almost all (93 percent) farm households in Bénin have some form of
storage facility. For this survey, we distinguish among three types of storage structures:
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