Core Topic (CT)

Land use changes: agriculture and restoration

 Topic (T)

Land use change related to cash crops

 Title

Socio-economic causes and consequences of cotton and cacao cultivation - The socio-political dimension of cotton in Benin

 Project leader(s)

Dr. Nassirou Bako-Arifari
Prof. Dr. Michael Kirk
Dr. Nikolaus Schareika
Dr. Pamphile Degla

 Project description

During the last two decades, research on the cotton sector of Benin has often stressed the question of the impact of price policies on the increase in production. In this context, the link between cotton production and environmental destruction has sometimes been mentioned but was not a major concern for policy makers, researchers, as well as many other stakeholders.

This workpackage will try to explain the paradoxical condition of cotton which is used as a crucial instrument for income generation by small farmers and as a means to reduce poverty by the state - but at the same time constitutes a major source of environmental destruction within the rural zones of cotton production.

A better understanding of the meaning of the cotton puzzle for the new decentralized collectivities may help to devise strategies to reconcile their contradictory objectives which are to promote economic development and conservation at the same time. Research on macro-level issues (national and international economic and political lobbying) is closely linked to our ongoing research on the micro level (local communities).