AFRICA

Benin

Area: 112,622 km²

Geography: Benin has tropical climate in the south and a semiarid climate in the north. It is mostly flat with undulating plain terrain and only some hills and low mountains. Cotton is the main export commodity and is therefore an important agricultural product for farmers in Benin. (CIA, 2019)

Land Degradation: In 2010, 1.8 million people were living on degrading agricultural land in Benin. The national annual cost of land degradation is estimated at USD 490 million, equal to 8% of the country’s GDP. (UNCCD, 2019)

Sustainable Land Management: Benin has established its national voluntary Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) targets with the ambition to achieve LDN by 2030 through the restoration of 1.25 million hectares of degraded land, while increasing efforts to avoid further degradation. (UNCCD, 2019)

ELD ACTIVITIES

  • Case Study (2017)

    Title: A case study from the municipality of Banikoara, Benin - The economics of conventional and organic cotton production.
    Authors: Westerberg V.
    Scope and findings: Regional analysis of the economics of pesticides use and resulting occupational health issues in cotton production. The study reveals annual environmental and health related damage costs to equal EUR 174 per household in Banikoara, Benin. This allows the estimation of global damage costs of EUR 2.9 million per annum.

    • Case study report (en) (fr)
  • Case Study (2017)

    Title: Le coton est-il vraiment l'or blanc à Banikoara?
    Authors: Westerberg, V., Golay, A., Houndekon, V.,  Costa, L.
    Scope and findings: L’étude présentée provient d’une enquête auprès des ménages agricoles dans la commune de Banikoara en Septembre 2016 centré sur le coton.

    • Case study report (fr)

CONTACT

ELD Secretariat
E-Mail: info@eld-initiative.org