1. Georg-August University of Goettingen
Faculty of Social Sciences
Institute for Social and Cultural Anthropology
Herbicides Induce Territorialization and are Weapons in Farmer–Pastoralist Interactions in Northern Benin
GEORGES DJOHY
Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty
Washington DC, 20–24 March 2017

2. Theoretical background
OUTLINE
Introduction
Territorialization & Herbicides in use
Theoretical background
Political Ecology & STS
Research methods
Long-term ethnographic fieldwork
Research Findings
Herbicides as tools for territory-making
Conclusion
Imbalance in power relations / Conflict

3. INTRODUCTION
From above
What is the influence of the adoption of herbicides on land-use practices?
How does the widespread use of herbicides influence farmer–pastoralist interactions?
Power relations
Power relations
Local communities
States
Territorialization
(Territory-making)
From below

4. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
STS defends the co-construction of society and technology considering that they should not be taken as separate entities simply influencing each other. Technolo-gies are social products, as societies are also technologically built (Hughes, 2012).
PE + STS
PE emphasizes how power relations and politics shape the dynamics of economic development, environmental transformation and social change across geographic scales of analysis from the local to the global (Robbins, 2012).

5. RESEARCH METHODS Area Population Activities Study area
Total area: 4910 km2
Forest reserves: 1772 km2 (36%)
Arable land: 1705 km2 (35%)
Pastureland: 1235 km2 (25%)
Population
Total population: 117,793 (51% F)
Bariba ethnic group: (54%)
Fulani ethnic group: (42 %)
Immigrants: (4%)
Activities
Crop farming:
Main activity for Bariba
Cotton and cereals as main crops
Livestock farming:
Main activity for Fulani
Cattle as main species.
Cotton agro-ecological zone of northern Benin (ZAE 2): zone of keen land competition

6. Ethnographic approach
RESEARCH METHODS
Ethnographic approach
Land cover in 1982
Land cover in 2012
Ethnographic fieldwork
Diachronic analysis of land-cover change
Participant observation
Key informant interviews
Focus group discussions

7. FINDINGS Land-use dynamics and pastoral crisis in Gogounou
Gogounou land cover in 1982
Gogounou land cover in 2012

8. FINDINGS
Land use and land cover 1982–2012

9. FINDINGS Agricultural mechanization and modernization Farm equipment
A household member now takes care of 4.2 ha of land compared to 1.7 ha previously, despite the external wage labor that farmers have to mobilize to meet their overall labor needs (Balse et al. 2015)
Farm equipment
Expansion of agricultural areas
Labor shortage

10. Herbicides reduce labor difficulties and facilitate farm operations
FINDINGS
Herbicides and labor shortage
Herbicides reduce labor difficulties and facilitate farm operations

11. Herbicides contribute to increase in crop area
FINDINGS
Herbicides and increase in crop areas
Cereals: fourfold increase
Maize: fivefold increase
Rice: fourfold increase
Sorghum: twofold increase
Cotton: sinusoidal trend
Herbicides contribute to increase in crop area

12. Herbicides favor faster extensification
FINDINGS
Herbicides and production per unit of land
Crop area: considerably increased
Yield: not significantly improved
Agricultural production: not intensified
Land: increased competition
Herbicides favor faster extensification

13. Herbicides provide S-T economic benefits
FINDINGS
Herbicides and farm income
Herbicides provide S-T economic benefits
Farming without herbicides (1 ha maize)
Costs: US$ 358
Income: US$ 537
Profit: US$ 179
Farming with herbicides (1 ha maize)
Costs: US$ 288
Profit: US$ 249
US$ 70

14. FINDINGS Herbicides, tenure security and territorialization
Herbicides as tools for territorialization
Herbicides as land control and tenure security technologies

15. Herbicides as tools for territorialization
FINDINGS
Herbicides, tenure security and territorialization
Herbicides as tools for territorialization
Herbicides as weapons in social conflicts (poisoning of pastures and water sources)

16. Conflictual coexistence
CONCLUSION
Main findings
2. Herbicides for territorialization
Land control
Tenure security/insecurity 1.
Extensification 3.
Conflictual coexistence
2. Territorialization
1. Herbicides for extensification
Crop area expansion
Non-improvement of yield
Income improvement
3. Herbicides for conflicts
Land expropriation
Livestock poisoning
Conflictual relationships

17. THANKS
FOR YOUR ATTENTION