The role of endogenous and exogenous knowledge sources in agroecological vegetable farming systems in South Benin

Agroecology is increasingly recognized as an approach to address farmers’ challenges, also in West Africa. Agroecological practices have been anchored in endogenous knowledge systems for a long time. However, agricultural intensification during colonialism and the Green Revolution led to a marginalization of endogenous knowledge. The importance of integrating endogenous and exogenous knowledge is broadly supported in recent literature. Yet, the literature on knowledge integration processes that comprehensively involve the local community and focus on agroecology in West Africa is scarce. Therefore, the goal of this MSc thesis was to investigate the role of endogenous and exogenous knowledge sources for farmers in South Benin, and the contribution of these knowledge sources to the agroecological transition according to the five levels of food system change defined by Steve Gliessman. The thesis was conducted in the communes of Allada and Dangbo in South Benin. Besides a general analysis of the knowledge sources, the agroecological trainings conducted by the local cooperative Agroecological Community (AEC) were examined. Data were collected qualitatively through participatory observation and discussions with farmers and key informants. In Allada, multiple endogenous and exogenous knowledge sources were relevant for farmers: other farmers, trainings, formal education programs, parents and grandparents, farmers’ own experience and governmental actors. Less important were research institutions, the media, personal coaches and private sector companies. In Dangbo, where the farming system was more traditional, parents and grandparents were most relevant, while other farmers, trainings and farmers’ own experience were also important. Overall, both endogenous and exogenous knowledge sources may share traditional practices and value traditional knowledge. In both communes, cooperatives coordinated knowledge flows and farmers’ action. Farmers in Allada mostly understood agroecology as substituting chemical with organic inputs and had an extensive knowledge in this direction (level 2 in the classification of Gliessman). At the same time, only individual farmers had a developed understanding of their farm as an interconnected system (level 3). In Dangbo, level 3 practices, such as intercropping and mulching, were widespread. Yet, farmers had less knowledge about the importance of and concrete pathways for input substitution. This could be related to the reduced role of exogenous knowledge sources, which often focused on input substitution. Meanwhile, exogenous knowledge sources shared little knowledge on level 3. This also accounted for the AEC training, where farmers learned how to produce organic inputs with local resources. The limited knowledge on level 3 was identified as a barrier in the agroecological transition, also for level 2 to take place. Further, there were barriers at the food system level (levels 4 and 5): among others, external stakeholders, such as researchers, governmental actors and NGOs, rarely enable extensive knowledge co-creation and farmers’ active participation within their projects. To both support farmers’ level 3 knowledge and empower them, endogenous development, as a “development from within”, is a promising pathway that could allow building on traditional level 3 knowledge. Through discussions with the AEC, an approach for external stakeholders to empower farmers as central actors in the agroecological transition was outlined.