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AUTHOR(S): Egnon Jacques Hougbenou Houngla, Comlan Dagbegnon Tossougbo Hinson, Adam Gbankoto, Bessi Lise Carole Anani
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TITLE Characteristics of Urban Market Gardening in Porto-Novo, Republic of Benin, West Africa |
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ABSTRACT In Benin, gardening products include traditional vegetables (tomato, pepper, okra, onion), leafy vegetables (big nightshade, amaranth) and exotic vegetable (carrot, cabbage, lettuce, cucumber, leek, green beans ...) and market gardening is on the rise with massive investments from government. This study was carried out in Porto-Novo (capital of the Republic of Benin, West Africa) to find out the characteristics of the urban market gardening system. A questionnaire was used for the study. The investigation revealed that, in Porto-Novo, urban gardening was practiced in seventeen out eighty-eight neighbourhoods. Three hundred and forty-three people middle-aged (41.82 years) were urban gardeners, 38.19% of them were female and 76.09% of them can read and write. About 80.17% of producers are motivated by the profitability of market gardening, and eighteen vegetables are grown (sweet pepper, celery, carrot, bitter leaf, okra, hot pepper, onion, green bean, pot-herb, cabbage, tomato, basil, watermelon, lettuce, large nightshade, cucumber, celosia and amaranth). Around 95.92% of producers use organic and chemical fertilisers, 86.59% of them use plant protection products to fight pests, 54.81% of them have an activity complementary to urban gardening, 0.29% of urban gardeners only is on their own land. The urban gardening is an option to reduce the risk of urban food insecurity in Porto-Novo and an opportunity to increase the income of producers. Land tenure security, access to inputs, and access to finance are the constraints that can prevent the development of urban gardening in Porto-Novo. |
KEYWORDS Urban gardening, vegetables, fertilisers, Porto-Novo |
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Cite this paper Egnon Jacques Hougbenou Houngla, Comlan Dagbegnon Tossougbo Hinson, Adam Gbankoto, Bessi Lise Carole Anani. (2019) Characteristics of Urban Market Gardening in Porto-Novo, Republic of Benin, West Africa. International Journal of Agricultural Science, 4, 66-76 |
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