Kandi

Kandi

Kandi is a town in the Alibori Department of Eastern Benin. Kandi was originally a market town but is now primarily an agricultural center. It lies on the north-south main road of the country, 650 km from Cotonou and 523 km north of Porto Novo. Kandi was formed by the Kingdom of Bariba, which was a branch of the Borgu Confederation. The neighboring villages are inhabited by the Bariba people to the south and west and the Mokole Yoruba people to the north, who fled the wars that led to the founding of the Oyo Empire. The majority of the population is in agriculture, followed by trade, transport and handicrafts. There are significant, high-quality iron deposits in the area. The principal crops cultivated are maize, cotton, kapok, millet and peanuts. Bombax costatum is of local importance, its flowers and calyx being used for food, its leaves for fodder and its seed pods for the production of kapok fiber. For Benin as a whole, cotton is the most important crop for international trade, and Kandi is one of the main centers of cotton production in the region, with ginning plants in the village providing local employment.