Author(s)

Abdoul-Ramane Abdoulaye^*, Aboudou Yacoubou Mama Aboudou Ramanou

Département de Géographie et Aménagement du Territoire, Faculté des Lettres, Arts et Sciences Humaines, Université de Parakou, Parakou, République du Bénin.

Nowadays, African cities are subjected to upsets which result from the extraordinary growth of urban populations. The growth of the population of cities has induced some changes in the structure of the activity of those cities. Agriculture which was formerly confined to the countryside henceforth develops in the urban area and occupies a preponderant place as a strategy of survival, of insertion and of food supplying of the city-dwellers. It has become an activity integrated to the urban tissue through systems of occupying and exploitation of land in the urban area. Population growth (4.81%) between 2002 and 2013 is a critical poverty rate (65%) of the population of Parakou city, entailing a misery perceptible in all its social and economic dimensions. The market-gardening activity has integrated itself to the urban tissue. The objective of this study is to understand how urban agriculture through market-gardening can be a solution for rural farmers who have moved to Parakou city. In this study, documentary research, interviews and field observation are used for data collection. The main results to be signaled among others are: evolution and status of the market-gardening areas in Parakou, the reduction of food insecurity with the permanent availability in quantity and in quality of market-gardening products accessible to the population: the protection of the environment through the drainage of the urban area and the preservation of the diversity of vegetables; the increase of the income of the households of the farmers and the creation of employments.

Urban Agriculture, Food Security, Market-Gardening Channel, Land Dynamics, Protection of the Environment, Employment, Parakou

Abdoulaye, A. and Ramanou, A. (2015) Urban Market-Gardening in Parakou (Republic of Benin): Spatial Dynamics, Food Security, Protection of the Environment and Creation of Employments. Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection, 3, 93-103. doi: 10.4236/gep.2015.35011.