Cooperative Agro Pastorale Segbeya

African swine-raising, cooperative struggles to survive and prosper


By Azanmasso Joseph and
Steven Graham

Editor's note: Joseph is president of Cooperative Agro Pastorale Segbeya; he met Graham when both worked with the Peace Corps in West Africa in the 1970s; Grabam was administrator of the Kansas "eat Commission from 1980-95, and has since then served as assistant to the dean and director of agriculture at Kansas State University.

he "Cooperative Agro Pastorale Segbeya" was started in 1994 by swine producers in Benin, West Africa. The co-op faces many challenges to develop and grow, not unlike many facing cooperatives in the United States.

Benin is slightly smaller than Pennsylvania, with a population of 6.3 million. It is located west of Nigeria and east of Togo. As a former French colony, the country's official language is French, but there are eight major tribal languages spoken within its borders.

Benin is primarily an agricultural country, producing ample fruits, vegetables, peanuts, corn, cotton, and live-stock for its own use plus limited export. The southern half of Benin receives rain in two periods each year, and thus two growing seasons. The northern half is drier and only has one growing season. Commodity exports from Benin include cotton, crude oil, palm products, and cocoa.

The population in the southern half of Benin is more affluent than in the north, and one of the meats consumed in large quantity is pork, especially in the County of Toffo in the Atlantique Province, or Department of South Central Benin. Other preferred meats are poultry, fish and beef. This rich agricultural region is located just north and west of Cotonou, the country's most populous city.

Subsistence farmers
Agriculture in Benin is primarily of the subsistence type, with the exception of a few palm or fruit tree plantations. Farmers usually clear a couple acres and plant a mixture of tall and short crops on the land for a few years. That land is then allowed to go fallow and another piece of land is cleared. Livestock is primarily allowed to range free and forage for whatever food can be found. Beninese producers do not talk in terms of production days for livestock but rather in terms of months or years.

A rudimentary Agricultural Extension Service exists and provides the very slimmest of technical information and assistance. The assistance available depends greatly upon the knowledge base of the local extension agent and whether the agent is reaching out to the producers through meetings in their local villages.

There is no system of banks or organizations providing credit to the subsistence farmers who might want to try some new type of crop or livestock production system. Money is transferred to local villages through the many Post, Telegraph & Telephone offices (PTT) throughout the country. If people receive checks from overseas and do not live in one of the few cities in Benin and have a bank account, they will not be able to cash those checks. Instead, they must receive their money in the form of international postal money orders, which can be cashed at their local PTT.

Many roadblocks slow progress
Small producers wanting to try new ideas which cost money face a very difficult situation. Either they need to band together and form a cooperative or find some backer with money.

Those wanting to form a cooperative in Benin discover many of the same roadblocks as in the United States. For example, previous cooperatives that have failed reduce chances for new ones to begin. There are also issues such as finding the right mix of farmers to join, deciding on a reasonable and attainable business plan, and determining how to direct and manage the cooperative to a profitable position.

Even when producers form a cooperative, they have great difficulty convincing authorities to take the group seriously and provide technical or financial assistance. The following story is about a cooperative in Benin, West Africa, that faced the difficulties and has continued to operate.

Editor's note: The following portion of this article is told in the words of the cooperative's president, Azanmasso Menai Joseph, translated from French.











Recognizing the wealth of its neighbors and their willingness to buy pork, seven West Africa producers including Azanmasso Joseph have joined forces to raise and market hogs. Photo courtesy CAPS


Genesis of the co-op
"Realizing the affluence of the population in the neighboring Oueme Province for the purchase of pork and the great consumption by the population in the Atlantique Province, especially by persons of Toffo County and, in particular, the Community of Ouagbo, I had an idea. On April 11, 1994, 1 invited 10 farmers to come together and create a cooperative for the purpose of producing swine. Seven of the invited farmers responded favorably and created a cooperative: the Cooperative Agro Pastorale Segbeya which, to this day, is working together as a cooperative and a team.

"With our own resources, we bought a piece of land and paid for the construction of a new semiconfined ,hog operation, including a building and walled lot. It opened on June 1994.

"Through the life experiences of each cooperator and using whatever technical, financial and human measures and methods possible, the cooperative hoped to create a more modern and rational system of producing swine in the community of Ouagbo. "The cooperative's objectives were to: 1) Satisfy the demands of the local population for pork meat; and 2) Provide reasonable income to the cooperators who initiated the cooperative.

"In addition, we wanted to pull from this experience the lessons that would permit us to aid other farmers who might want to abandon the traditional ways of raising swine and become more self-sufficient in the production of animal protein in Toffo County and our community of Ouagbo.

Goals of the Cooperative
"The overall goal of the Cooperative Agro Pastorale Segbeya is to change the traditional system of raising swine in the County of Toffo and, in particular, in the community of Ouagbo, by developing a new swine-raising system that mixes a local breed of swine with an imported breed. The cooperative raises crossbred swine, using imported males and local females.

Co-op's accomplishments
"Based on the planned objectives and purposes for the cooperative, the results have been positive, though income did not increase as much as desired because three-fourths of the annual receipts are destined to pay for the animal feed and the veterinary services. Therefore, we decided to buy one hectare of land to cultivate and raise food for the swine. We received a gift of money from Steven and Cheri Graham to buy the land. I had worked with Mr. Graham when he was a Peace Corps volunteer in my country from 1974-76, and we have stayed in contact over the years since he left.

"From 1994 when the cooperative started, until November 1997, more than 75 head were in our production system. But in November 1997, a disease killed many swine in Benin. The cooperative faced great losses and big difficulties. Previous receipts were used to take care of the remaining swine, but the government was eventually forced to order all swine killed to stop the spread of the disease. "We were finally allowed to restart production in 1999. The government imported swine, which we were required to purchase, and authorized our new efforts. We purchased three females and one male. The females have now had one litter apiece.

Future Plans
"Despite all the difficulties, we still have the desire and the will to succeed in livestock rearing. We hope to add another animal to our mix and spread the risk. Also, we would like to purchase more farmland to use in producing feed for the animals. We investigated what it would take to raise chickens, fish or agouti, a local, raccoon-sized, wild animal that is considered a delicacy.

"We thank those who have assisted us over the years for the opportunity to work together as the Cooperative Agro Pastorale Segbeya. We appreciate the opportunity to share our story with friends in other parts of the world. May God bless us all."

Readers with suggestions that could help farmers' organizations in Benin or other West African nations can contact Steven Graham at: 1603 Little Kitten Avenue, Manhattan, KS 66503-7543. His phone number is 785-532-5729 and his e-mail is steveng@ksu.edu.








Return to Table of Content