Abstract

Aim: The study was aimed to assess on one hand the socio-economic importance of agricultural contracts, then on the other hand the determinants of the profitability of cashew nuts production under contract in North-East of Benin.

Materials and Methods: The data were collected from a sample of 144 farmers (including 72 contracting producers and 72 non-contracting producers) through a questionnaire. The information collected was analyzed from two software packages. The SPSS software allowed to compile the descriptive statistics and then the average comparison test of these two categories of producers. As for the STATA software, it was used to perform a multiple linear regression that allowed to analyze the determinants of the profitability of the production of cashew nuts under contract. In addition, discourse analyzes have been made in order to analyze the social importance of agricultural contracts.

Results: Analysis of the information collected showed that agricultural contracts improve the income of the participating producers. Several variables explain the high income obtained by this category of producers. They are: the age of the producer, the size of the household, the number of farm assets, the level of education, the number of years of schooling, the amount of the loan contracted and all fixed charges.

Conclusion: Improving the level of economic efficiency of the production of cashew nuts under contract therefore necessarily involves targeted actions on these variables. Social importance of the production of cashew nut under contract is felt on the sanitary level, on the educational level, on the social relations between producers, on their living conditions then in the acquisition of rolling stock.

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