The Peanut Sector and Artisanal Wafer (Kwlikwli) and Oil (Agonlinmin) Production Units: Lessons for Policies to Support Small-Scale Agrifood Production in West Africa?

Peanut production in Benin has experienced impressive growth, from 69,222 tons in 1989 to 156,901 tons in 2018, despite the liberalization of the sector, which has deprived it of significant public support. This ethnographic study conducted in Ouessè aims to understand this evolution using the path dependency theory. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with several actors, including producers, collectors, traders and processors. The results show that these actors and private microfinance have reappropriated the historical past of peanuts in the commune of Ouessè, as well as the previous orientations of agricultural policy, to reorganize the financing, collection and marketing of peanuts in order to meet the growing demand from processing units.