My tractor, your tractor

The principle behind farm machinery cooperatives is that farmers club together to share the cost of buying and maintaining a tractor, trailer or threshing machine. In the South, in particular, the high price of farm machinery coupled with the small size of plots mean that it is hard to recoup one s investment. More and more farmers are discovering that the cooperative system offers a way of using equipment to make labour intensive farming jobs easier and more efficient, at a fraction of the normal cost. In Benin, the first two such cooperatives were launched in 1997. Today there are 17 in just one region, Borgou-Alibori, a cotton-producing area in the northeastern part of the country, and demand for more cooperatives is growing. Compared with the classic service offered by private suppliers, these organisations guarantee a greater variety of equipment, ensuring better quality work for the farmers. They also provide access to credit from banks. In an effort to ensure an even more efficient supply and maintenance of farm machinery, the cooperatives of Borgou-Alibori have regrouped under a regional umbrella organisation. A spare parts warehouse and a repair service managed by a specialist mechanic have also been set up. Launched in 2003, this regional grouping is aiming to encourage the mechanisation of agriculture in Benin.

Bibliographic Details

Main Author:	Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation
Format:	News Item biblioteca
Language:	English
Published:	Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation 2005
Online Access:	https://hdl.handle.net/10568/48042 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/99625
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