A New Generation of Ideas
interchangeably. However, Wilbers, Van Veenhuizen, and Castro (2007) advocate that each of these diverse types can be captured under the term “UPO.” The heterogeneity has required most characterizations of UPOs to be “strategic and flexible.” The formation of UPOs improves the visibility of producers and provides them with a stronger presence in their local environment. UPOs that formally register as organizations with the local government will also improve the legitimacy of UA activities and producers. As argued by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, “a lack of organization deprives urban and peri-urban low-income small-scale producers of the organizational means for bargaining and negotiating with the authorities and other groups in society” (IDRC/FAO 2007, 15). By becoming organized as a group with a common voice, urban producers can improve their connections with important external agencies, including nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and private actors, which can advocate for land tenure reform and the legitimacy of UA on the producers’ behalf. UPOs can play an important role in advocating for the changing of official attitudes in government toward UA and critical policy changes that will ensure the sustainability of UA activities. Although UA supporters advocate the strengthening of UPOs as a means to increase productivity and build their capacity to overcome key constraints, such as secure land tenure, there is little understanding of how this development strategy should be focused or what policy reform needs to take place. The overall objective of this paper is to uncover the characteristics and factors that contribute to a UPO’s effectiveness in securing land tenure. In the next section, I compare two distinctly different case studies of “market garden” sites in Cotonou, Benin, and their experiences in securing land tenure.
COTONOU, BENIN
Cotonou is the economic capital of the Republic of Benin and its largest city, with an estimated population of 1 million, one-ninth of Benin’s total population of 9.05 million (2010) (U.S. Department of State 2012). According to Benin’s National Statistics and Economics Institute, Cotonou’s population in 2006 was 761,137, which translates into an | 105 |