Determinants de la proximite des services agricoles dans les poles de developpement agricole au Benin

The development of agricultural extension services adapted to farmers’ needs is one of policy-makers’ major concerns for developing sustainable agricultural value chains for a successful agricultural sector. This requires the implementation of an effective agricultural extension system for competitive farms. This study aimed at analysing the factors likely to modify the structure of agricultural extension provision in the seven poles of agricultural development resulting from the ongoing reform in the Benin agricultural sector. Data were collected through modular surveys and focus group discussions in 437 villages randomly selected from an administrative map and distributed across the seven poles. These data were analysed using descriptive and a binomial logistic regression to model the supply of agricultural extension services. The results show that the presence in the village of socio communitarian infrastructures (health centre, periodic market, farmer organisations development projects) significantly affects the supply of agricultural services. With regard to agricultural services provision, farm management advice and financial services were supplied in less than one out of four villages in the sample, while the veterinary services were provided in 42%. These results attest that more effort must be made to increase the ratio of extension agents to villages in order to improve farmers' access to agricultural services. As a consequence, any policy that aims at ensuring a sustainable supply of agricultural services should be accompanied by the establishment of socio-communitarian infrastructures to facilitate the circulation of goods and services. Furthermore, building capacity of farmers' organisations would contribute in making the more autonomous and capable of supplementing the public provision of agricultural services.