热博体育

Issues

Cotton production is central to agricultural production systems in Benin. The cotton sector accounts for 30% of the country’s exports and provides a living for more than 300 000 households. However, the downside is that the surge in cultivation is resulting in soil degradation, with two thirds of land in Benin now moderately or severely degraded. To restore healthy soils and ensure the sustainability of the cotton sector, the government of Benin is turning to agroecology.

Description

Two types of expertise are being mobilised for this project:

• technical expertise (in agronomy, systems, mechanisation and seeds);
• expertise related to the methodological approach to adopting and organising the change of scale.

热博体育 provides support activities on sustainable soil management in the following areas:

• the rational management of mechanisation and motorisation: equipment to facilitate the adoption of conservation agriculture principles;
• soil fertility monitoring, organo-mineral fertilisation;
• cover crops and forage plants;
• consultations on the management of shared areas and natural resources.

Expected results

The goal of the second phase of the TAZCO project, from 2020 to 2024, is to accelerate the agroecological transition in the cotton sector with adoption at the national level. The technical sheets and videos, for example, will be translated into local languages and illustrated for direct distribution to farmers. Some 10 000 producers have already successfully tested agroecological innovations.