Dr Alassan Assani Seidou

Benin | In rural areas, women practise small livestock farming, including sheep, goats, rabbits, and poultry. They comprise 61% of the agricultural workforce. The changing demography and urbanisation of rural communities threaten farmland, making women vulnerable. The assessment of the adaptation strategies developed by women livestock farmers to address land scarcity in this region, along with the economic factors influencing the adoption of land access strategies, has now been identified as a subject of scientific investigation. Such knowledge is urgently needed to propose practical strategies for mitigating land scarcity for women in Benin. Dr Seidou’s research aims to enhance food security, alleviate poverty, and address land scarcity in the northern region of Benin. The project will also contribute to stakeholder learning, strengthen decision-making, and promote the advancement of women's land rights in Benin.

Livestock farming is an essential economic activity in the region. It exploits uncultivated areas in arid and semi-arid zones to enhance the value of low-value plant formations, providing a means of subsistence for the world's poorest households. In recent years, the importance of access to land for people from vulnerable strata, such as women and young people, has been recognised by the land code, which was amended in 2017. Having regained control of land management through the mechanism designed by the Benin government, it now attempts to guarantee more equal access to land.

There is a positive correlation between women's access to land and improved household well-being. The general objective of the research project is to examine how women livestock farmers deal with limited access to land and the associated social and economic implications in northern Benin. Specifically, the study will characterise the livestock breeding practices of women farmers, determine the perceptions of women livestock farmers regarding land scarcity in northern Benin, define the land access adaptation strategies developed by women farmers to cope with land scarcity, and identify the social and economic factors affecting these adaptation strategies. The study will be conducted in the urban and peri-urban communities of northern Benin, where more than 85% of smallholder livestock farmers are concentrated.

Two agroecological zones were identified in this study area: the dry Sudanian region, characterised by 800–1100 mm of rainfall annually and a growing season of 145 days, and the moist Sudano-Guinean region, which receives 1100–1300 mm of annual precipitation, resulting in a growing season of 200 days. Six interviews will be conducted with local technicians from the Territorial Agencies for Agricultural Development to identify the villages to be studied. Farmers from the village areas of N’Dali, Kandi, Parakou, Nikki, Gogounou and Tchaourou were selected for this research project.

The questionnaire covers socio-demographic characteristics (gender, age, ethnicity, household size, level of education, experience in farming, contact with extension, workforce employed and membership of an organisation), local community perceptions about of land scarcity and access of women to agricultural land; concrete land access strategies adaptation developing by women livestock farmers to cope with land scarcity; and benefits of land access to women livestock farmers (social, economic and cultural). Additionally, direct field observations will be used to collect information on plot size, the number of livestock, and other relevant details. Key informant interviews and participatory rural appraisal techniques, such as resource mapping, will be conducted to complement and validate the information collected during the in-depth survey. Furthermore, eight Focus Group Discussions (one per community) with six to 18 participants will be conducted. Secondary data will be collected from reports, maps, censuses, theses, and other publications to understand areas and the prevailing access to land for women livestock farmers. The land affairs departments will also supply a list of women landowners in the six communities to assess the percentage of women who have acquired secure land for livestock activities.

Dr Alassan Assani Seidou is a senior lecturer in the Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Agronomy, University of Parakou (Benin). He holds a PhD in Animal Production from the University of Parakou. He coordinated several individual and collaborative scientific projects and co-authored more than 50 scientific papers, three monographs, and two books on animal nutrition, livestock systems, and climate change. Since 2018, he has advised and co-supervised more than 25 BSc and 15 MSc students. He was awarded the prestigious "OnePlanet Fellowship" Programme. He was also the laureate of the Africa Science Leadership Programme (ASLP) in 2020. He became the first young scientist in Benin to win the Green Talents Competition for sustainability sciences in October 2020, organised by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). In February 2021, he was a laureate of the DAAD postdoctoral fellowship climapAfrica – Climate Change Research in Africa. In 2022, He became an ARISE Fellow. He developed a mobile application to formulate low-cost, climate-sensitive balanced rations from locally available feed resources for small-scale cattle farmers in Benin, Togo and Niger. This research project was funded by the European Union (EU) and implemented by the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) and the African Union Commission (AU) through the African Research Initiative for Scientific Excellence (ARISE). In 2024, he won the VLIR-UOS TEAM project to develop sustainable grazing practices through precision livestock farming in partnership with KU Leuven.