Country Food Security Context
Statistical Reporting Units
Most statistical data for Benin uses administrative boundaries as the unit of reporting. There are three principal levels: 1) administrative
Administrative-level 1, a “departement”
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Administrative-level 2, a “commune”
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Administrative-level 3, an “arrondissement”
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Crop
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In Benin, the Ministry of Agriculture has defined, and sometimes refers to, eight agro-ecological zones (see Compendium des statistiques agricoles, 1992) which generally group more than one commune together based upon common physical, climate-based, and agronomic features. Some of the zones do not respect commune boundaries.
data
Year and Season Definitions
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The country’s “Main” cropping season is generally considered to run between 1 April between April 1 and the November 30 th of November (approximately, depending upon latitude), with zones in the North planting later and harvesting earlier (by September 30) than in the center and south.
Prior to the annual commencement of the main season rains in April, heat and humidity move northward following following the annual pattern of movement of West Africa’s principal climate driver, the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), and the rains follow. Sometime late in the normal “main” season, the ITCZ begins its annual seasonal southward retreat, and the heat, humidity and rains retreat with it.
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Benin ag statistic reporting generally distinguishes between no production (neant), and several categories of statistics that were not (yet) available: non-disponibles, non-parvenus, ne figurent pas dans les tableaux pour une autre raison.
Benin’s agricultural statistics are generally reported at the Admin-1, “departement” or Admin-2, commune levels. In Benin, the Ministry of Agriculture has defined, and sometimes refers to, eight agro-ecological zones (see Compendium des statistiques agricoles, 1992) which generally group more than one commune together based upon common physical, climate-based, and agronomic features. Some of the zones do not respect commune boundaries.
Methodology of Crop Estimation
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