Co-designing sustainability assessment indicators for sheep farming in West Africa using a SWOT analysis approach

The study surveyed 100 sheep farms across 10 municipalities in southern Benin using snowball sampling due to the absence of official farmer records. Data were collected via electronic questionnaires (CSPro software) designed to conduct SWOT analysis - identifying internal factors (strengths and weaknesses) and external factors (opportunities and threats) affecting farm sustainability. The questionnaire used open-ended questions covering technical, organizational, economic, and social aspects of operations. Farms were pre-classified into three categories: Specialized fattening sheep farms (SSF), Emerging sheep farms (ESF), and Traditional sheep farms (TSF). The SWOT analysis examined four dimensions of sheep farming operations:
Strengths focused on positive internal factors including satisfactory operational aspects, farm competitiveness, and available assets. Weaknesses identified internal limitations such as unsatisfactory operational factors, areas needing improvement, internal constraints, and economic challenges. Opportunities explored external positive factors including favorable sector trends, available territorial resources, and beneficial contextual changes. Threats assessed external negative factors including risks, adverse contextual changes, emerging constraints, and factors that could lead to farm abandonment.