ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sustain. Food Syst.
Sec. Land, Livelihoods and Food Security
Volume 9 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2025.1621537
How does land tenure security contribute to the sustainable development of rural households? Evidence from Benin (West Africa)?
Provisionally accepted
- Laboratoire Societe-Environnement (LaSEn), University of Parakou, Parakou, Benin
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In rural economies where land is a critical asset, tenure security plays a pivotal role in sustainable development. While previous research emphasized the economic impacts of secure land rights, their broader social and environmental contributions remain underexplored. This study investigates how land tenure security affects economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development in rural Benin. Using a mixed-methods approach—household surveys (n=372), focus group discussions, and key informant interviews—and structural equation modeling, the analysis reveals that secure land rights significantly enhance investment, credit access, social cohesion, gender equality, and sustainable land practices such as agroforestry. Stronger legal rights (land titles and ADC/CFR certificates) yield more substantial benefits compared to land use certificates or no documentation. The findings highlight land governance as a cross-cutting driver of SDGs 1, 2, 5, 13, and 15. The study recommends inclusive, gender-sensitive, and context-adapted land policies to foster rural sustainability and resilience.
Keywords: sustainable development, Land rights, Tenure security, Rural household, West Africa
Received: 01 May 2025; Accepted: 08 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 ADECHIAN and BACO. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Soulé Akinhola ADECHIAN, adechians@yahoo.com
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