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Porto Novo (Benin)Submitted by Femke Hoekstra on Fri, 11/19/2010 - 11:37
Date of RUAF intervention: 2005-ongoing Introduction | Urban agriculture in Porto Novo | Multistakeholder policy process | From Seed to Table | Products | Contact Capital of Benin, the city of Porto Novo has a surface area of 52,5 km2 or equivalent to 0,05 % of the national territory. Porto Novo is situated in South Benin at 32 km of Cotonou and is divided in 5 departments ("arrondissements") and 86 neighbourhoods. The climate is characterised by a subequatorial humid climate with 2 dry and 2 wet seasons per year. The population of Porto Novo comprises 223.552 inhabitants with 52% (RGPH, 2002). The annual growth rate is 2,4% with a density of 1985 inhabitants/km2. The city’s economy is based on informal commercial activities (around 90%), horticulture, fisheries, handicrafts and small-scale processing activities. TYPES OF URBAN AGRICULTURE IN PORTO NOVO Around 13% of the population in Porto Novo is involved in agricultural production. The Agricultural Plan (2004-2005) registered 2976 enterprises and 1332 farming households. Agricultural production involves vegetable production, livestock production and aquaculture. MULTISTAKEHOLDER POLICYMAKING AND ACTION PLANNING ON URBAN AGRICULTURE A situation analysis on urban agriculture was implemented by the local project team. A stakeholder analysis showed the presence of various institutional actors involved in urban agriculture, including the Municipality, the national Ministries of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Planning, the National Agricultural Research institute in Benin (INRAB), ONGs and international organizations. A participatory appraisal of urban farming systems and the direct actors involved (farmers, processors, vendors and input-suppliers) was done, parallel to an analysis of urban agriculture land use and a review of the current legal and policy framework. Assets:
Constraints:
Information collected in the situation analysis were shared with a large group of stakeholders and served as a basis for action planning and policy design on urban agriculture. The Municipality adopted urban agriculture as an important urban strategy, and allocated 8 Million FCFA to the implementation of urban agriculture related activities as well as several hectares of land were allocated for horticulture activities. At national level, urban agriculture is integrated in the Emergency Programme on Food Security in Benin. In the framework of the RUAF-FSTT programme, urban producers in Porto Novo work on improved joint production and processing of tomatoes. Issues that receive a lot of attention include ecological production (use of bio-pesticides for example), using improved varieties and irrigation techniques and direct sale of the produce to marketing women, restaurants and exporters, requiring the set up of a marketing committee and joint production planning. For more information on the RUAF-Cities Farming for the Future Programme in the region, contact the regional coordinator at RUAF West-Africa (Francophone) or see their website. Click here to return to the worldmap ( categories: )
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