Abstract

The Beninese government has opted for a policy of sedentarizing cattle herds in order to reduce conflicts between farmers and herders and to provide support for the sustainable improvement of livestock production. To understand herders’ perceptions and identify factors that may influence the adoption of this policy, a study was conducted in the Sudanian Zone (SZ) and the Sudano-Guinean Zone (SGZ) of Benin. The survey was conducted with 480 livestock farmers spread across four municipalities in the two zones. Using SPSS version 21 software, descriptive statistics and binary logistic analysis were performed on the survey data. Overall, 88.33% of the farmers favored sedentary livestock farming. Farmers in the ZSG (48.54%) were more favorable than those in the ZS (39.79%). 76.67% of the farmers reported a decrease in the frequency of conflicts between farmers and herders. They estimate that there will be an increase in the size of calves (82.71%), the weight of animals (81.25%), the growth of young animals (76.25%) and a decrease in the number of abortions (81.67%), the mortality of young cattle (78.54%) and the frequency of animal diseases (83.13%). The results also show that factors such as : contact of livestock farmers with extension services ; forage crops ; knowledge of texts governing livestock mobility and age positively influence the adoption of sedentarization at the 5% threshold. Factors such as land ownership, the distance of livestock infrastructure from the herder’s living quarters, the proportion of income derived from livestock farming, and education level negatively influence a herder’s adoption of sedentarization at a threshold of 5%. Incorporating these findings into policies supporting livestock farmers would strengthen the various options for sedentarization considered by the government.