Assessing stakeholder perceptions on institutional reforms in Benin’s agricultural Sector: Relevance and social inclusion perspectives

• Despite the quality and relevance of institutional innovation, inclusivity in its implementation approach is crucial. • The social status of agricultural sector stakeholders influences their perceptions of institutional reforms. • A combination of discourse analysis and logistic regression models was used to understand stakeholders ' perceptions. • In the context of agricultural policy reforms, the top-down approach is unfavorably perceived by stakeholders. Existing literature about public policies in Sub-Saharan Africa predominantly focuses on international institutional and foreign power interference and limited attention has been paid to personal stakeholders’ perspectives. This study examines stakeholders’ perceptions regarding the major institutional changes that have occurred in Benin’s agricultural sector since 2016 and the factors influencing these perceptions. Data were gathered from 1500 farmers and 383 key informants representing public and private institutions across Benin’s Agricultural Development Poles. Continuous thematic content analyses and analytical questioning were employed to explore the stakeholders’ social representations regarding institutional reform. Relative frequency distributions and polarity indices were calculated to determine the direction (positive or negative) of the stakeholder’ perceptions. Additionally, the factors influencing stakeholder’ perceptions were analyzed using logistic regression models. The results reveal that institutional stakeholders held positive opinions regarding the territorialization of agricultural development, both regarding its relevance and formulation approach. However, the approaches associated with the abolition of certain structures or agencies received negative connotations. The relevance of this reform was positively evaluated by institutional managers but viewed less favorably by non-managers. Stakeholders linked the positive aspects of the reforms to the shared vision of revitalizing agricultural sector development. To foster consensus and align reforms with stakeholders' aspirations, policymakers must expand consultation at all level.