Alibori Department
Alibori holds 45% of Benin's cattle farmers and 87% of households depend on livestock, yet remains among the poorest regions despite pastoral wealth.
Alibori Department functions as Benin's primary livestock reservoir, with 87% of households depending on cattle, sheep, and goats as their main economic activity. This northern region holds 45% of the nation's cattle farmers and 33% of its cattle population, creating an economy where animal husbandry dominates despite the cotton belt running through its southern reaches. The concentration resembles ecological carrying capacity—the savanna grasslands support pastoralism that denser southern regions cannot sustain.
Yet this livestock wealth coexists with extreme poverty. The department ranks among Benin's most impoverished despite its considerable pastoral resources, a pattern that puzzles development economists but makes sense through biological lens: pastoral systems optimize for resilience rather than accumulation. Herds serve as mobile savings accounts, liquid assets for emergencies rather than engines of capital growth. This r-selection strategy—many offspring, low investment per individual—characterizes both livestock management and household economics.
Climate variability poses increasing pressure. Farmer-herder conflicts have intensified as demographic growth pushes cultivation into traditional grazing lands. The Gogounou district experiences unimodal rainfall (May-October dry, November-April dry), creating seasonal bottlenecks that concentrate animals at watering points. Whether Alibori can modernize livestock systems while preserving pastoral livelihoods depends on infrastructure investment in feed production and veterinary services—inputs that remain scarce in Benin's remote north.