Growing Diversity – West Africa

TITLE OF EXPERIENCE: Traditional agricultural practice used in organic farming

AUTHOR: OBEPAB

COUNTRY AND REGION: Benin, Dan Setto / Abomey Region

ECOLOGICAL ZONE: Savannah

ABSTRACT

Most of the land in Dan Setto has been exhausted by many years of exploitation. Farmers from Gnizoumey first started to use tchotchokpo in agriculture at the beginning of the 1980s on a plateau of land at Abomey. The use of tchotchokpo as a mineral fertiliser was developed at that time as a result of trial and error. Edible crabs were being discarded as rubbish on the outskirts of the villages. It was noticed that cultivated fields which had this 'rubbish' thrown onto them were producing more than other fields and, as a result, the use of edible crabs as fertiliser was gradually introduced.

Farmers confirm that yields from maize or cotton fields treated with tchotchokpo are sometimes equivalent to those treated with mineral fertiliser. In addition, they have observed that certain organisms living in the ground such as worms, millipedes, termites and certain ants are more often found in soil treated with tchotchokpo than soil treated with mineral fertiliser. Tchotchokpo contributes to improving the conservation of biological resources in the soil. It is currently widely sought after for cotton cultivation and the Benin Organisation for the Promotion of Organic Agriculture (OBEPAB) ensures its distribution.

CONTACT:

Organisation Béninoise pour la promotion de l’Agriculture Biologique (OBEPAB), 02 BP 8033 – Cotonou – BENIN, Tél. 229 35 14 97 – Fax 229 30 02 76, Email : obepab@bowintnet.bj