Access to Land and Empowerment of Women Organic Cashew Producers in the Collines Department of Benin: Technical Support from Support Institutions

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to determine the moderating role of technical support institutions in the economic empowerment of women engaged in organic cashew production who are beneficiaries of land in the Collines department of Benin. Socioeconomic Characteristics of the respondents were, collected randomly from 227 women involved in the CRADIB NGO project. The 5DE index and Fractional Regression Model technique were employed to assess the level of economic empowerment and its effects on the living conditions of the respondents. The results reveal that women engaged in cashew production in the Collines department are economically empowered to the extent of 23.74%. However, 10% of women who benefited from institutional support for land access achieved the threshold of empowerment, whereas nearly 46% of women who obtained land through inheritance have achieved empowerment. Furthermore, the primary factors limiting the economic empowerment of women cashew producers are the right to make decisions regarding household earnings, ownership of productive assets, and the ability to access and control agricultural credit. To guide economic policies, it is recommended that public policies focus on raising awareness in rural communities about women’s rights on one hand, and institutions involved in facilitating women’s access to land should consider the size of the land allocated as well as agricultural crop diversification.