Université des Sciences Arts et Techniques de Natitingou, Département d'Economie et de Sociologie Rurales, École Nationale Supérieure des Sciences et Techniques Agronomiques de Djougou, B.P. 73 Djougou, Benin
This study analyses the profitability of organic and conventional cotton in Benin and assesses their determinant factors. The research was carried out in three districts including Glazoue, Banikoara, and Tanguieta. Those localities belong to different agro ecological areas. For the purpose of this research, we used a quantitative approach based on structured interviews. We adopted a stratified sampling in three stages (national, regional and local levels). In all, we interviewed 215 household-heads (males and females), of which 111 conventional farmers and 104 organic farmers. It stands out that cotton production (both conventional and organic) is profitable in all the three areas. Organic cotton is more profitable than conventional cotton in spite of its lower yields. In fact, organic cotton farmers make use of locally available inputs, which are cheaper than the chemical inputs employed by conventional farmers. Moreover, organic cotton farmers benefit from premium, which combined with the low costs of production compensate the yield gap. Overall, the main determinants of the profitability of cotton (conventional and organic) include: the intensity of technical support, amount of credit, quantity of family labor force, level of education, practice of fallow, and the quantity of family labor devoted to pesticide sprays.