The study examines economies of scale and sources of total factor productivity growth on poultry farms producing table eggs in Benin Republic. We use panel data on commercial poultry farms from 2010 to 2018, and the flexible translog production functions to estimate a stochastic frontier and economies of scale. The results showed that there were significant economies of scale to be exploited, and the average productivity growth rate was decreasing of 5.09% over the study period. This deterioration was mainly because of the decline of technical efficiency growth rate (2.16%) and technology growth rate (2.67%). Although the returns to scale (1.31) were increasing, their effects on productivity during the study period were negative (−0.74%). As implications, policy makers may encourage the increasing of the “size” of poultry farms and act on the sources of productivity growth identified in this study to increase the productivity of commercial poultry farms to meet the demand of table egg in Benin.

Cahiers Agricultures est une revue scientifique sur les agricultures du monde, leurs évolutions et leur place dans les sociétés

As a sustainable and holistic approach to agriculture, agroecology has received considerable attention in recent years because of its potential to address the environmental, economic, and social challenges of agricultural systems. In order to identify key trends, influential authors, impactful journals, and emerging research themes surrounding the agroecological adoption topic, we performed a bibliometric analysis based on metadata from documents dealing with the topic and methods employed for its assessment over the period of January 1990 to July 2023, extracted from the Web of Science database. Based on the metadata of more than 1280 articles, our analyses show that the “identification of agroecology adoption determinants” and the “development of knowledge for food sovereignty” are among the trendiest research topics, while farming systems management and biodiversity issues are basic themes. The issue of analyzing agricultural productivity is more often linked to the impact of climate change. Also, we find that machine learning methods are not yet widely used to model the process of farm agroecological adoption. The contribution of African countries to the topic remains marginal in terms of documents produced, despite the predominance of traditional agriculture on the continent.

In southern Benin, the rapid growth of demographics and the need for fishery products have forced public managers to adopt various management measures in the face of anti-ecological methods used by fishers; however, these strategies are often formulated independent from the context. These measures have not remained without consequence on the daily lives of fishers. This paper examines factors influencing fishers’ individual perceived wellbeing satisfaction using the social-ecological system framework. Data on 205 small-scale fishers’ demographic information, perception of job, and individual wellbeing satisfaction and governance subsystems were collected and analysed by the use of an ordered logistic regression. The results demonstrate that job satisfaction and ownership of water bodies (in contradiction to Ostrom’s advocation for commons management) affected fishers’ individual perceived wellbeing satisfaction. Fishers likely value ownerships, affecting their perceived wellbeing mainly in the South East. The prohibition of certain fishing gear decreases fishers’ individual perceived wellbeing, indicating their attachment to these. Therefore, the question remains as to whether or not the scenarios of eco-sustainability of artisanal fisheries can be managed in the same manner as those related urban dwellers and the public sector. This is in particular reference to the line between urban land property rights, urban dwellers and the state, and property rights on water bodies, fishers, and the state.

Seed is one of the key inputs for rice production. The quantity of rice seeds produced is largely below the demand expressed by rice producers in Benin. In recent years, several projects have been implemented to promote this activity. A one stage stochastic frontier production which incorporates a model for the technical inefficiency effects was applied on a whole population of 141 farmers identified in the irrigated site of Koussin-Lélé, Benin. The result showed that the technical efficiency ranged from 69% and 99% with the mean of 92%. The most efficient producers had the best yields, 5,096 kg/ha comparable to the experimental potential yields estimated at 4,800 to 5,000 kg/ha in a controlled peasant environment. Farmers who exercise the multiplication of rice seeds as their main activity educated producers and those who are often in contact with agricultural advisers are the most technically efficient. Therefore, the current institutional environment is favorable to rice seed farmers in the study area. The undertaken actions implemented in recent years must be continued and strengthened. The content of the extension should also be focused on appropriate techniques of fertilization and/or restoration of soil fertility to prevent the misuse of mineral fertilizers. Special attention should be given to the producers in the village, Lélé, to help them improve their technical efficiency. Key words: Rice seed, technical efficiency, irrigated perimeter, Koussin-Lélé, Benin.