Analysis of the interrelationships of stakeholders involved in the management of transhumance in southern Benin

The management of pastoral mobility is a stakeholder-centered approach for the integration of resource conservation and agricultural development. This study aimed to characterize the stakeholders of transhumance and to analyze their influence in the municipality of Djidja in southern Benin. For this purpose, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 300 stakeholders involved in transhumance and pastoral resource management. The Likert scale (1 to 5) was used to assess the levels of influence and focus groups were conducted. The results showed that several stakeholders (transhumant herders, agro-pastoralists, farmers, hunters, fishermen, loggers, gendarmerie, Garso, CTAF, cattle farmers’ associations, farmers’ associations, SCDA, and communal transhumance committee) were involved in transhumance with diverse interests, backgrounds, knowledge, and power (P < 0.05). More than half of the farmers (72%) blame transhumant herders whose practices are source of multiple conflicts among (please mention what kind of conflicts and with whom by providing example). Statistical analysis indicated a strong influence with significant differences (P < 0.001) in the pastoral resources by four stakeholders including the communal transhumance committee, the association of herders, the Garso (scout and intermediary for transhumant herders), and the transhumant herder. This research demonstrates how the systematic analysis of the activities carried out by the stakeholders, the interconnected activities between them, and their relationships can offer insights for a better coordination of transhumance. For effective pastoral management, it is therefore important to build a dialogue between the different stakeholders involved in transhumance in southern Benin.


Introduction
In tropical Africa, livestock farming occupies an important place in the economy and socio-cultural activities of rural populations (Laouali et al. 2014). At the macroeconomic level, livestock sector contribute about 44% of the regional agricultural GDP in West African states (FAOSTAT 2018). In the West African countries, livestock farming plays a key role in achieving food security for millions of people engaged in various production, processing, marketing, and service such as efficient veterinary and information services (Kamuanga et al. 2008). In addition, livestock farming represents a powerful factor of integration, through the multifaceted exchanges that allow development between countries, territories, and stakeholders. Through these products, it becomes a real link in the local economy of developing countries, especially in the process of exchange and transformation of animal products. A set of economic circuits generating employment and income is being developed between the host and transit countries for cattle herds and transhumant herds (Laouali et al. 2014). The pastoral livestock is also a substantial contributors (35%) to the agricultural GDP of Benin (MAEP 2011) despite the environmental constraints and dependent on the available resources. In Benin, there are transhumance pastoralist migrating along with their livestock from one place to another seeking for forages and water, which is influenced by seasons (Gonin and Tallet 2012). Transhumance is an animal production system characterized by pendular and seasonal movement based on the availability of water and forage for animals (Toutain et al. 2012). However, this transhumance practice nowadays is a source of several conflicts because of several reasons including reduction of grazing areas with expansion of agricultural land and the ownership of water reservoirs by rural communities, which have increased over the years, especially in southern Benin (Azalou et al. 2019;Cao Diogo et al. 2020). Thus, the use of pastoral space by transhumant herders, farmers, fishermen, etc. leads to conflicts whose consequences are mainly socio-economic and refers to disputes, quarrels, and tensions between these stakeholders (Maiga 2006).
Several facts including land pressure and access to fodder resources are considered as the source of conflicts between herders and local populations (Schönegg et al. 2006;Afouda et al. 2016). Pastoral resource needs (Djenontin et al. 2004) are the main constraints for livestock development. The management of the natural resources is a major concern of rural farmers in southern Benin. These different natural resources are open to the public and are therefore considered as a common resources (Vollan and Ostrom 2010) used by a multiplicity of stakeholders and whose management has become a complex problem (Pires and Moreto 2011). According to Behnke and Scoones (1993), the best way to manage pastoral space for stakeholders, particularly agro-pastoralists and transhumant herders, is to adapt to constant changes in the volume and location of pastoral resources. Pastoral resources have various uses and are subject to technical, institutional, and ecological constraints which seem to be at the origin of conflicts between these different stakeholder (Kpéra et al. 2012). In addition, the massive influx of transhumant herders with large herds descending on the South of the country and the violence that would characterize their operating methods have exacerbated the tensions linked to the management of pastoral resources.
If the question of the roles of farmers' organizations and institutions resurfaces in rural activities, it is important to analyze roles and the level of influence of stakeholders, for example, distribution of pastoral resources, as well as in their management (Vallet et al. 2019). It becomes necessary to address issues of power, legality, and interest for a more sustainable, equitable, and resilient management of ecosystems and their services (Howe et al. 2014;Turkelboom et al. 2018). Some direct human interventions are a facet of transhumance management that can indirectly affect decisions made by stakeholders (Iniesta-Arandia et al. 2014;Barnaud et al. 2018). As for the management of stakeholders, it is an important element in the strategic management of organizations (Cleland and Ireland 2006). It helps authorities and managers to proactively understand stakeholder performance, place emphasis on particular attributes and behaviors, and formulate appropriate schemes under different circumstances. Therefore, the objective of the study was to identify the main stakeholders and their role in the sustainable management of pastoral resources in southern Benin and (2) to analyze influence/power of stakeholder and relationship between them for a better resource management and rehabilitation of ecosystems grazed by transhumant herds.

Study area
The study was carried out in the municipality of Djidja in the southwest of Benin in the department of Zou at an altitude of 180 m above sea level, between 7° 10′ and 7° 31′ N and 1° 39′ and 1° 13′ E. It covers an area of 2184 km 2 (Guidibi and Akomagni 2006). This municipality was chosen because it represents a reception area for national and cross-border cattle farmers (Azalou et al. 2017). These transhumant herds enter the municipality via various administrative units (Azalou et al. 2019). It benefits from a humid tropical climate characterized by four seasons: two rainy seasons and two dry seasons. In Djidja, the annual rainfall is around 1100 to 1200 mm (Vissin, 2015). The average temperature is 28.5 °C; the maxima recorded between February and March are around 36 °C and 37 °C, and the minima vary from 22 to 25 °C during the months of July and November.

Data collection
The data for the study was collected through focus groups and semi-structured interviews carried out with stakeholders between September 2018 and February 2019. These interviews enabled to complement and categorize the stakeholders previously identified (Azalou et al. 2019) in order to acquire more detailed information. This allowed for the development of a preliminary understanding of stakeholders behavior, intentions, and interests. Thus, all stakeholders were included in the group discussions. Most of these stakeholders are people living in the municipality and were aware of the problem of access to pastoral resources or who practice one of the following specific activities: agriculture, livestock farming, hunting, fishing, and participation in an agricultural resource and conflict management committee.
Thirteen focus groups were organized in the selected villages, bringing together stakeholders (Etienne, 2006). To avoid biases that could result from the composition of the group, focus group data were triangulated using semi-structured stakeholder interviews. The stakeholder analysis methodology was used to identify the stakeholders involved in transhumance and the use of pastoral resources and to analyze the relationships that are established between these different groups of stakeholder (Lupo Stanghellini and Collentine 2008;Kpéra et al. 2012;Wutich et al. 2020). Thirteen villages were selected from the five districts of the municipality of Djidja (Table 1) using the criteria of Assani et al. (2017) method. These criteria are based on the concentration of cattle farms in these villages, cattle markets, and the reception of transhumant herders. This study focused on the different categories of stakeholders and their analysis in transhumance in the context of environmental changes in the municipality of Djidja in southern Benin. It enabled to identify all the stakeholders associated with the "agriculture-livestock" system, their importance and influence, and their interest and to categorize the stakeholders (Khattali et al. 2018).
Respondents were asked to give their opinion on issues relating to power, legitimacy, urgency, proximity, knowledge, and interest, as well as the attribute of different stakeholder groups on transhumance (Nguyen et al. 2009;Eberendu et al. 2017). These included: • Power: each stakeholder is asked to rank the level of power of other stakeholders, which is understood as a stakeholder's ability to effect change in pastoral resources management -being measured on a continuum from 1 (i.e., negligible level of power/generally cannot effect change) to 5 (i.e., very high level of power/superior capacity in terms of policy, funding to instruct change). • Legitimacy: the legitimacy of a stakeholder is a prerequisite for the success of transactions with stakeholders (Freeman, 1984). To measure the degree of legitimacy of the stakeholders in the activities, this question concerned the type of relationship between stakeholder and activities. The relationship ranges from 1 (i.e., the stakeholder has only an indirect relationship with pastoral resource management activities) to 5 (i.e., the stakeholder has a contractual relationship with the mentioned activities).
• Urgency: the question concerned the level of response to the assertions of each stakeholder. It was measured from 1 (i.e., there is no need for action) to 5 (i.e., require immediate attention from stakeholder). • Proximity: this assesses the level of association of stakeholders with pastoral resources activities. This degree is based on a range of 1 to 5, where 1 represents "totally distant from activities" (i.e., have no indirect or direct involvement in activities), and 5 represents "working directly and being involved full-time in all transhumance management processes." • Knowledge: this is the knowledge on transhumance activities by the main stakeholder, which is evaluated from 1 (i.e., complete ignorance) to 5 (i.e., fully aware). • Direct interest: this allows obtaining a subjective assessment of the level of direct interest of each stakeholder by choosing the possible range from 1 (very low) to 5 (very high). • Attitude: this measures the attitude of each stakeholder towards the management of transhumance and conflicts. Stakeholders must choose one option out of five: − 1 (active opposition), − 0.5 (passive opposition), 0 (noncommitment), 0.5 (passive support), and 1 (active support) (Olander and Landin 2005).
In addition, it is clearly stated prior to the administration of the questions that all data collected will remain strictly confidential and anonymous and that it will be used only for scientific research purposes.

Data analysis
The data collected entered into the Excel 2013 spreadsheet, before being imported into the R.4.0.2 software (R Core Team 2020) for statistical analyses. A descriptive analysis revealed the mean and the standard deviation of each parameter followed by an analysis of variance (ANOVA) to assess the impact and the level of influence of stakeholders. Statistical tests (Fisher test) of different values were performed using the same software. These tests allow to determine if the variations of the calculated indices are significant (p < 0.05). To demonstrate the level of stakeholder influence, three different indices are calculated: stakeholder impact; stakeholder vested interests impact index; and stakeholder influence index. The level of impact of the stakeholders surveyed was calculated according to the formula (Nguyen et al. 2009) where I = impact level; P = power level; L = level of legitimacy; U = level of urgency; K = level of knowledge; and D = degree of proximity. Bourne and Walker (2006) also reported a ranking of vested stakeholder interest (V) ranging from 1 (very low) to 5 (very high). Nguyen et al. 2009) inferred that influence can be interpreted by an stakeholder's impact index which is used to prioritize stakeholders. The impact index was calculated as where S II = stakeholder impact index; V iII = earned interest impact index; and Pos = attitude position value.
Numerical values were used to represent the attitude position value (Pos) (Olander and Landin 2005).
The stakeholder impact index was derived from the vested interest impact index (V iII ) using Bourne and Walker (2006) method: where V iII = vested interest impact index; I = stakeholder impact level; and v = direct interest of stakeholders.

Stakeholders of transhumance in southern Benin
Based on information from focus groups and face-to-face interviews, our study shows that the stakeholders involved in the practice and management of transhumance in the municipality of Djidja are diverse. We could categorize stakeholder as (1) users of ecosystem services of pastoral resources (transhumant herders, agro-pastoralists, farmers, hunters, fishermen, loggers) and (2) various government or institutional officials at various levels: local and national. By institution, these are the communal authorities, the district chiefs, the (1) village chiefs, the communal transhumance committees, the SCDA, the gendarmerie, the Garso or scouts, the Forest Management Technical Unit (CTAF), the associations of ruminant farmers (UCOPER Union Communale des Organisations Professionnelles d'Eleveurs de Ruminants; UDOPER Union Départementale des Organisations Professionnelles d'Eleveurs de Ruminants), and associations of crop farmers. The roles and practices related to transhumance and the use of pastoral resources by stakeholders were defined.

Transhumant herders
Central stakeholders of transhumance, transhumant herders, are involved in the use and to a lesser extent in the management of pastoral resources in Djidja. They are mobile actors around the use of pastoral resources. Cattle herds in transhumance are generally mixed, made up of several cattle breeds, and belong to three sub-categories of pastoralist stakeholders: (1) cross-border transhumant, (2) inter-communal transhumant, and (3) semi-sedentary transhumant.
For transhumant herders, their movement with large cattle herds (more than 100 heads) in the municipality of Djidja in southern Benin from Nigeria, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Togo depends on the availability of water, forage, and crop residues during the dry season. The cross-border herders own an average of 102 cattle head, and inter-communal transhumant herders own an average of 80 cattle, while semi-sedentary farmers have 53 cattle and also raise small ruminants. Thus, in order to access pastoral resources, transhumant herders must meet certain conditions, which are to announce their arrival to the management services (UCOPER, Communal Transhumance Committee, etc.) through the head of the herders' organizations in the host district or village. The organization of transhumance was divided into three periods among all the transhumant herders surveyed (100%) and varied according to the pastoral calendar. The use of pastoral resources is also based on a number of successive stages: before departure on transhumance, during transhumance, and the return of transhumants from host areas.

Agro-pastoralists
As producers who have associated livestock farming to their main activity, agro-pastoralists are stakeholders who not only have a field to cultivate but also a herd of cattle that they can entrust or not to a local breeder. During the rainy season, agro-pastoralists move their herds away from the villages in order to avoid any intrusion into the fields under cultivation and to use remote pastures as well as the numerous temporary surface water resources. These used pastures are mostly open access; they are not subject to any surveillance; the strategies of these stakeholders are guided by the presence of resources and the search for the smallest competition with other cattle farmers. After the harvest, the animals move closer to the villages where they graze in the fields and fallow land. They drink from local natural or developed resources (streams and reservoirs, rivers, etc.). In the dry period, agro-pastoralists (86%) with a large number of cattle and labor drive their animals further from the home area. Harvest residues from food crops (maize, peanuts, millet, sorghum, etc.) and others are directly used by their cattle herds.

Crop farmers
Agriculture is the dominant production activity in the municipality of Djidja. Farmers are very active in activities related to the use of pastoral resources. They allow cattle farmers to access crop residues, while they benefit from manure. The activity of the crop farmers consists of preparing the fields for the onset of the "Seeto" rains, marked by the return of herds from the great transhumance. The first harvests of the grazing area are made, and it is after the second harvest of "Djaamdè" whose harvest residues are available for transhumant herders. Installed in all the host and transit villages of transhumant herders, farmers are now aware of the value of crop residues. Some cattle farmers do not ask for permission before accessing crop residues, which sometimes leads to conflicts. However, the majority of respondents (72%) blame herders, who allow cattle to enter their fields without any pre-authorization. Very active in organizing transhumance and/or the use of pastoral resources, they rarely negotiate with herders when damage occurs in their crops. Twentyseven percent (27%) of farmers surveyed acknowledged that they cultivate plots of land reserved for animal pasture.

Hunters
They play the role of trackers while accompanying the agents of the gendarmerie and the SCDA in search of cattle farmers who commit crimes in the fields. They are also called upon to control the transhumance routes of the municipality. In the exploitation of wildlife resources in classified and other forests, hunters make use of bush fires on pastoral resources, which is attested by various transhumance organizations. Hunting is practiced mainly during the dry season, and a few rare traps are set in the rainy season to capture wild animals.

Fishermen
The municipality of Djidja has significant fishing potential. As a result, fishing is an economic activity in certain districts and villages. Fishermen use traditional fish farming techniques, and one can therefore observe the development of small areas (acadja) on the bodies of water, particularly on the Zou and Couffo rivers. These stakeholders take care of the reservoirs and various waterways in the municipality of Djidja to harvest fishery resources. The rivers of this municipality being for the most part seasonal, it is especially in the rainy season that they are used as a source of water for domestic uses, but also for watering animals. During the recession, fish holes (houédo) are exploited in the flood plains. The uncontrolled disposal of these facilities leads to conflicts within fishermen and also between fishermen and transhumant herders. Fishing is thus practiced by a few anglers, and reprehensible practices consisting of killing fish with toxic products are observed sometimes that could lead to adverse effects on herd's health status.

Loggers
These stakeholders deal with forest and/or natural resources and their exploitation. They thus exploit the classified forests of Dan and Setto to collect wood. These forest or nonforest species are also used by transhumant herders in the dry period to feed livestock. Before any logging operation, a summary inventory of pastoral and/or natural resources and confirmation of their use must be undertaken. These operations are carried out by community groups or private operators depending on whether it is firewood, service wood, or lumber. The forest agents mandated with the management of natural resources raise awareness at the beginning of each season of activity, all operators. They explain to them the conditions for exploiting the resources if necessary. This is how it issues operating permits to users who have registered. All checkpoints deploy officers for patrols to detect potential fraudsters, to whom they will pay the fines.

Gendarmerie
It participates in the assessment of damage in the fields and mainly carries out actions to protect the population, investigations in the event of death. It also accompanies SCDA agents and hunters for their safety during the various checks.

Garso
The role of the Garso is to enlighten the transhumant throughout the process. They carry out translation actions during meetings and intermediation in the event of damage to the fields and facilitate negotiations with village and district chiefs in favor of transhumant herders. They are very active in the field, especially with regard to interpretation. According to the results of the survey, the Garso or the scout provides information and advice to transhumant herders on the transhumance axes (92%) during the dry season. Well before this stage, he surveys the municipality in order to identify the most areas abundant in fodder resources and establish a prior agreement with the various stakeholders in the areas selected with the aim of welcoming transhumant herds.

Forest Management Technical Unit
The CTAF deals with the protection and sustainable management of the natural resources of the classified forest of Dan and Setto. Its function is to develop and/or implement the participatory development plan(s) with the various other stakeholders. This cell gives access to transhumant herders to stay according to well-defined clauses but are amended as soon as these clauses are not respected.

Cattle farmers' associations
It brings together organizations such as the Association Nationale des Organisations Professionnelles des Eleveurs de Ruminants (ANOPER), Union Départementale des Organisations Professionnelles des Eleveurs de Ruminants (UDOPER), and Union Communale des Organisations Professionnelles des Eleveurs de Ruminants (UCOPER). They are much more interested in raising the awareness of herders (61.6%) on the behavior to adopt regarding the practice of transhumance, especially in the reception areas where conflicts are recurrent. Technical support (21.3%) and management of transhumance (18.3%) among transhumant herders were also reported as other concerns. These organizations represent herders in the defense of rights and interests with public authorities and partners and ensure a good flow of information between their members and manage conflicts during transhumance in Djidja. Closer to cattle farmers, it also works to ensure compliance with the texts in force. These associations "collaborate with that of farmers for a peaceful transhumance and continue to work for better management of pastoral resources" according to the spokesperson for the cattle farmers of the district of Setto.

Crop farmers' associations
The creation of the associations of crop farmers is made by the producers of food crops and others in order to be involved in transhumance. The main functions of this association are to prevent conflicts between crop farmers and herders, to raise awareness of transhumance routes, to prevent theft and robbery of certain herders, and to control activities that contribute to the degradation of natural formations and the overexploitation of pastoral resources. During the interview session, all the members (100%) of this association recognize that the authorities, in particular the agents of the gendarmerie, take money from transhumant herders by authorizing them to graze in the lowlands. They also point out that the heads of the cattle farmers' associations disrupt the progress of transhumance on corrupt funds according to 100% of the farmers surveyed. In the event of the destruction of crops in the fields, these cattle farmers refuse to pay the solidarity guarantees to the victim farmers and threaten them for the most part.

Communal Sector for Agricultural Development
The Communal Sector for Agricultural Development (SCDA) represents and provides a service at the level of the municipality of Djidja on behalf of the MAEP which consists of advising and assisting crop farmers and cattle farmers with regard to the various agricultural practices. The SCDA also intervenes in transhumance as an adviser and technical supervisor. As indicated by the interviewed agents, the interest of the SCDA is to contribute to the improvement of agricultural production in the municipality and to advise users and managers on the sustainable management of natural resources. Thus, they participate in the control of the flow of transhumant herds in the municipality, to enforce the texts and laws related to transhumance and to the observation and evaluation of damage to crops and possibly to animals, as well as to the control of vaccination of animals. There are other actions concerning the provision of veterinary services to pastoralists and especially the control of the possession of the international transhumance certificate (ITC).

The communal transhumance committee
Composed of several stakeholders including at its head the mayor of the municipality of Djidja (president), it should be noted the presence of the heads of various agricultural associations, the commander of the gendarmerie of the municipality, and the agents of the SCDA. This committee plays a central role in relations with the other stakeholders and has the function of organizing the transhumance, monitoring the progress and providing solutions to the problems, in particular the cases of conflicts which arise according to a participatory approach. It also has the role of monitoring (1) the movement of herds from one district to another and (2) the arrival, stay, and return of herds from surrounding municipalities or not, in particular reception, control, and registration of herders accompanying herds, orientation to defined grazing areas, improvement of rangelands, settlement of disputes, etc.

Power of stakeholders
The answers to this item of questions enabled to estimate the value of the power variable for each of the stakeholders interviewed ( Table 2). The comparison tests showed significant differences (p < 0.001) between the level of power of one stakeholder to another in the transhumance process. Thus, all stakeholders share the view that the level of power of the communal transhumance committee was significantly higher in management of pastoral resources. About 80% of the crop farmers' association officials rated their power level as moderate. They acknowledge that they do not have the power to decide financial matters, which are reserved for the communal committee. Stakeholders also think that structures such as CTAF and SCDA, agropastoralists and farmers have a certain capacity to bring about changes in the organization of transhumance. Furthermore, stakeholders admit that the level of power of hunters, fishers, and loggers in managing transhumance was low.

Proximity to stakeholders
All respondents believe that the CTAF only works directly and is involved full-time in all transhumance activities and management of pastoral resources with significant differences (p < 0.001). Also, the proximity variable value for the communal transhumance committee was significantly the highest with a mean of 5. At the same time, most of the other stakeholders such as transhumant herders and hunters and the gendarmerie brigade, the CTAF, the Garso, and the association of herders have directly participated in other activities related to the same cause.

Stakeholder legitimacy
Most of the respondents (79%) to the question items consider that the communal transhumance committee and the herders' associations enjoy a high degree of legitimacy (p > 0.05), as they are internal stakeholders who have participated in all stages of transhumance activity. Table 2 shows the communal transhumance committee occupying the 1st rank (1), followed by the herders' association, and the Garso with slightly lower scores of 4.11 and 4.00 respectively. Differences were also significant between the association of herders and hunters, loggers, and fishermen (p < 0.001) on the one hand and the communal transhumance committee and the last three stakeholders (p < 0.001) on the other hand. The group made up of CTAF, gendarmerie brigade, etc. has moderate legitimacy because there are legal demands that should be taken into account in the management of resources towards these stakeholders. Nevertheless, it is not surprising that 82% of surveyed think that the legitimacy for both fishermen, loggers, and hunters is low (p > 0.05), because the legal requirements towards these three stakeholders are not significant from the respondents' point of view.

Urgency of stakeholders
In general, the communal transhumance committee takes measures to respond to the requests of all the stakeholders concerned (p > 0.05) although there is no significant difference between it and the farmers' association, the association of cattle farmers, and crop farmers. More specifically, more than 65% of the committee members interviewed during their meeting on the progress of transhumance at the time of the study immediately respond to requests from farmers' associations (92%), Garso (84.57%), farmers (79.16%), and SCDA (63.88%). At the same time, queries from other stakeholders are addressed and responded to in a timely manner to maintain cohesion among the various stakeholder groups. It was without effect (p > 0.05) between the transhumant herder, the Garso, the gendarmerie brigade, the CTAF, and the SCDA.

Knowledge of stakeholders
The results in Table 2 show that most respondents (88.6%) agree that only the communal transhumance committee can have full knowledge of transhumance activities in southern Benin. His better knowledge did not vary (p > 0.05) compared to other stakeholders such as Garso and transhumant herders who also have a great knowledge of fodder and water resources and their use in the municipality of Djidja. The results also show a significant difference (p < 0.01) between agro-pastoralists and transhumant pastoralists.

Direct interest of stakeholders
Stakeholders are characterized as having an "interest" in the transhumance process, whose influence complements individual interests. Thus, the transhumant herder has a particular and higher interest in transhumance-related activities, which did not vary significantly (p > 0.05) between these stakeholders and the Garso and the communal transhumance committee. On the other hand, significant differences were observed (p < 0.001) between transhumant herders and the association of cattle farmers, crop farmers, and agro-pastoralists despite their moderate interest (respectively, 2.44, 2.7, and 3.17) in the theme in the municipality of Djidja. As for farmers, fishermen, and loggers, their interest is relatively low.

Stakeholder attitude
In Table 3, most of the respondents think that the communal transhumance committee and the association of herders express an attitude of active support towards transhumance activities. These attitudes were significantly (p < 0.001) different for crop farmers and herders association and transhumant herders. The communal transhumance committee must therefore show a positive attitude towards the activities because its success improves its professional competence. It is also evident that loggers, crop farmers, and fishermen show an inert attitude (p > 0.05) towards transhumance management activities as shown by the results.

Calculation of the influence index and prioritization of stakeholders
The results for individual important factors, the calculation of stakeholder impact, the impact index of vested interests, and the influence index are shown in Table 3. As a result, a ranking is made showing the priority of stakeholders according to the influence index, from the highest (rank = 1) to the lowest (rank = 13), which reflects the most influential stakeholder in the transhumance in the municipality of Djidja. The communal transhumance committee (rank = 1), the herders' association (rank = 2), the Garso (rank = 3), and the transhumant herder (rank 4) are at the top of the list with an influence index greater than 1, showing that these stakeholders have the greatest influence on transhumance and pastoral resource management. The CTAF, agro-pastoralists, and SCDA follow with lower scores of 0.95, 0.7, and 0.66, respectively. This means that, although slightly lower than the score for the communal transhumance committee (rank = 1), these stakeholders have a high level of influence on livestock activities. Another group of stakeholders (whose level of influence is less than 0.5) is composed of the Gendarmerie (0.48), the association of farmers (0.44), hunters (0.35), and fishermen and loggers (0.11 and 0.12) which rank lower than the others. It should be noted that farmers (rank = 13), whose index value is negative, would have a direct influence whose impact is negative or passively oppose transhumance activities in the study area.

Diversity of stakeholders involved in transhumance
In the context of our study, stakeholders can be categorized into community resource users (transhumant herders, agropastoralists, crop farmers, hunters, fishermen, loggers) and government or institutional officials. These results are consistent with those of García-Nieto et al. (2015) and Azalou et al. (2021) where the transhumance involves several groups of stakeholders. Thus, initiatives could be implemented to protect the ecosystems used by different stakeholder groups and constitute an important tool for understanding the sociocultural realities of communities, regions, landscapes, and ecosystems. This distinction of stakeholders coincides with that made by Ostrom (1990) who distinguishes three types of stakeholders in the management of natural resources: the "appropriators," who use the natural resources; the "producers," who implement actions to ensure the resource; and the "suppliers," who organize the supply of natural resources. This is also congruent with that of Barnaud et al. (2018) on the typology of stakeholders in the management of ecosystem services. In addition, large transhumant herders outside the municipality of Djidja spend part of the year in pastoral areas and are important players in transhumance (Azalou et al. 2019;Bombaj et al. 2021). The stakeholders involved in the management of transhumance in the municipality of Djidja are similar to that reported by Kpéra et al. (2012) which highlights a diversity of stakeholders in the management of agro-pastoral dams in northern Benin. For Audouin and Gautier (2017), several stakeholders at various levels are involved in the management of resources, and they can be customary authorities (village), decentralized (municipality), deconcentrated (meso level), central administrations (state), or even private groups to which the central state has granted a right of governance over a given area, subject to the monitoring of resource management rules. Environmental management in Benin is the work of several stakeholders: the state, civil society, and local or rural communities that depend on resources. The state must play a leading role in protecting the environment in Benin (Dovonou-Vinagbè and Chouinard 2009). The high diversity of stakeholder types involved in the management of natural resources can be explained by different rationales and intentional choices such as the preference for local benefits over national benefits (Vallet et al. 2019). The number of stakeholders might thus be as important as the diversity of stakeholders involved in benefits or the management of pastoral resources. In this study, different ecosystem services were considered important by different local stakeholder groups, involving different social interests (Tengö et al. 2014). Thus, in the municipality of Djidja in southern Benin, services related to transhumance showed a large number of beneficiaries and types of stakeholders involved in their management, which underlines their strong importance in the study area. Rural communities, largely made up of landowning farmers, and livestock herders are the most important managers of natural resources; they depend directly on these resources for their survival and will be the direct beneficiaries of the management activities of these resources and conflicts in their use. The inclusion of different stakeholder groups is necessary in ecosystem service valuation exercises as they have different types of connections to the landscape as well as their knowledge (Lamarque et al. 2011;Martín-López et al. 2012). Understanding the dynamics of livestock and pasture use also calls for taking into account the effects of institutions and public policies, playing on the rules of use of pastoral resources. The literature on the decentralization of public policies (Addison et al. 2013) thus shows that in countries that have decentralized the management of their natural resources, this decentralization does not lead uniformly to effective local governance. Natural resource governance is deeply linked to issues of power and equity (Chaudhary et al. 2018). In general, the key to this effectiveness lies in the relationships established between the relevant stakeholders within a community (Bombaj et al. 2021).

Influencing the management of transhumance: a question of power and interest?
The management of transhumance often involves several networks of stakeholders and interests. It is natural that all stakeholders have different interests, mandates, and powers in resource access, control, policy-making, and use of natural resources (Hailu et al. 2019). Assudani and Kloppenborg (2010) stated that stakeholders involved in various activities have different levels of influence and interests. The highest level of influence in transhumance in southern Benin is due to four main stakeholders, namely, the communal transhumance committee, the association of herders, the Garso, and the transhumant herder. This could be explained by the fact that the communal transhumance committee is made up of stakeholders who are, among other things, people who assume full responsibility and take charge of the problems of transhumance and the management of pastoral resources, the resolution of different problems, participation in meetings for decision-making, etc. These results are contrary to those of Vallet et al. (2019) who showed that farmers and communities were powerful in influencing land management and water supply but powerless in deciding the distribution of water use among different users. This is not surprising as the communal transhumance committee has the power to develop and oversee project activities, deal with technical issues, and assist stakeholders in making decisions related to transhumance. Therefore, it also holds the political power in the communal management system to formally approve and decide whether projects should be implemented or modified.
Natural resource flows globally create structural interdependencies and power relations between stakeholders ( Barnaud et al. 2018;Turkelboom et al. 2018). For example, in our case study, cross-border transhumant herders and the Garso benefiting from the stay in the reception areas have a particular interest in the management of transhumance. Attention would thus be given to the Garso and the association of herders by the communal transhumance committee which must also determine and implement the exact needs of the stakeholders. Thus, the members of the communal committee are likely to have a strong influence in all the activity projects in which they are involved. The high rank of the pastoralist association in the analysis is not surprising due to political issues and its role in transhumance as evidenced by their attitude. Nowadays, farmers' organizations in sub-Saharan Africa arouse obvious interest, because they contribute to the definition of agricultural policies and become an essential instrument for the success of development actions. The participation of identified stakeholders contributes to the implementation of objectives and potential management actions (McLeod and Hacker 2019).
The role of government institutions in enhancing collaboration and empowering the local community through resource allocation and negotiation could overcome these obstacles. This was noticed in our study where farmers, whose index value is negative, could passively oppose transhumance activities. This would suggest that the power to influence and manage resources is poorly shared with beneficiaries in the commune of Djidja in southern Benin. This asymmetry of power and opposition raises several concerns, as observed in other studies (Felipe-Lucia et al. 2015), because it can cause the population to distrust institutions (concern for legitimacy), create conflict, or reduce the resilience and adaptive capacity of a socio-ecological system (Armitage et al. 2009). In addition, there needs to be a revaluation of traditional management practices and more commitment from local communities.
In conclusion, the abusive exploitation of spaces leads to a difficulty in managing transhumance insofar as they are common to the different stakeholders. From our results, we can conclude that the stakeholders involved in transhumance and pastoral resource management are heterogeneous in terms of the interest, legitimacy, and power they possess. All the stakeholders identified encounter problems related to the management of transhumance, which are, among other things, access to pastoral resources, and their management methods. This study then carry several implications: it is a first in Benin which is interested in peeling the strategic analysis of the stakeholders in such a complex sector of activity while referring to a rich theoretical framework inspired by the theories of the sociological approach to organizations. At the practical level, this work enables to lift the veil on the interactions, divergences, and weight of each stakeholder in the course of transhumance in southern Benin.