Environmental Efficiency of Organic and Conventional Cotton in Benin

Aziz Fadlaoui,Régina D.C Bonou-Zin,Khalil Allali

doi:10.3390/su11113044

Aziz Fadlaoui, Régina D.C Bonou-Zin + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su11113044

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Abstract

Recent years have seen an increasing awareness of the relative advantage of organic and conventional agriculture. This study aims to analyze the environmental efficiency of organic and conventional cotton in Benin. A Translog hyperbolic distance function which allows us to consider the joint production of desirable and undesirable output is used to analyze the environmental efficiency among organic and conventional cotton production farmers. The model includes factors that affect environmental efficiency. Greenhouse gas (GHG) was used as an indicator of undesirable output. Data were collected from 355 cotton producers (180 organics and 175 conventional) randomly selected in the cotton belt of Northern Benin. The results show that although organic cotton producers contribute less to GHG emission, they are environmentally inefficient compared to their conventional counterparts. Producers could improve the quantity of cotton produced by 27% and 17% while reducing emissions by 21% and 14% respectively for both organic and conventional cotton to achieve better environmental performance. However, the analysis of the shadow price revealed that organic cotton producers face lower opportunity cost than conventional producers. These results suggest that there is a need for more technical support and environmental education to improve the environmental efficiency of organic cotton in Benin.

Highlights

In recent decades, there has been a growing interest in the environmental performance of organic and conventional farming across the world
The intra-analysis shows that organic cotton producers are less old than conventional cotton producers (42 years against 44 years)
The lower yield of an organic farm could be explained by the lower quantity of organic fertilizer used associated with their quality which lead to a lower nutrient available, the poorer pest management, the difficulty to improve the nutrients of infertile soils and the long process of releasing nutrients from these organic materials [45,46], The yield of conventional cotton obtained is substantially equal to that obtained by [47] under the system characterized by a high level of chemical fertilizer use (1400 kg/ha) in 2014 and lower than that of 2015 (2400 kg/ha of seed cotton). the main constrains on organic cotton production must be addressed to improve the productivity of these farms

Summary

Introduction

There has been a growing interest in the environmental performance of organic and conventional farming across the world. The increased use of synthetic input (fertilizers and pesticides) in conventional farming leads to an increase in agricultural productivity, and it contributes to environmental pressures [1] such as soil erosion, water and air pollution, emission of greenhouses gases, loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services and impact on public health [2,3]. To overcome these challenges, organic farming is promoted. It contributes to soil health, water conservation, biodiversity preservation and ecological health, carbon and natural resource management, energy efficiency and Greenhouse gas mitigation [5,6,7]

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