Benin

Benin is located in West Africa, bordering the Bight of Benin, between Nigeria and Togo. The country’s total land area is 112,622 sq km. In comparison, it is slightly larger than Honduras, or about the size of the state of Pennsylvania in the U.S. The climate in Benin is tropical in the south and semiarid in the north. Of the total land area, 23 percent is utilized for cultivated crops, while another two percent supports permanent crops such as fruit- and nut-bearing trees. Currently, Benin is facing environmental challenges such as inadequate supplies of potable water, deforestation and desertification. Economically, the country remains underdeveloped and dependent on subsistence agriculture, cotton production and regional trade.

Benin has joined with three other cotton-producing countries in the region – Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali (known as the Cotton-4 countries) – to lobby in the World Trade Organization for fewer subsidies to cotton producers in competing countries. Growth in real output has averaged around four percent in the past three years, but rapid population growth has offset much of this increase. The country’s population is approximately 8.8 million, with a majority of its labor force dedicated to agriculture. Other agricultural products in Benin include maize, cassava, yams, beans, palm oil, peanuts and cashews. The North and West Africa Division is responsible for IFDC activities in Benin.

Current IFDC Projects in Benin

• Toward Sustainable Clusters in Agribusiness through Learning in Entrepreneurship (2SCALE), 2012-2016
  2SCALE is improving rural livelihoods, nutrition and food security in Benin, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Sudan and Uganda, with 1.15 million smallholder families ultimately increasing their productivity by 100 percent and their net incomes by 30 percent. A key component is the development of a portfolio of 500 robust and viable agribusiness clusters and value chains to supply food to regional, national and local markets and the least fortunate, also known as base-of-the-pyramid (BoP) consumers.

DONOR: The Netherlands’ Directorate-General for International Cooperation (DGIS)  

• Marketing Inputs Regionally (MIR Plus), 2009-2013
  MIR Plus is improving policy and regulatory environments in the 15 nations of the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS). The project is increasing the use and efficiency of agro-inputs, improving the availability of technical and market information and using technology to link producers’ organizations with agro-dealers. The project links 2.23 million farmers to agro-dealers who will help train and supply the farmers. The project should increase maize and rain-fed rice yields by 20 percent for targeted farmers in Ghana and Nigeria, and increase irrigated rice yields in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone by 20 percent.

DONORS: Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), the Netherlands’ Directorate-General for International Cooperation (DGIS)

• USAID West Africa Cotton Improvement Program (WACIP), 2007-2013
  USAID WACIP is boosting the productivity and profitability of the cotton sector in Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali, known as the Cotton Four (C-4). IFDC works with farmers, researchers, input distributors, private enterprises, inter-professional associations and textile artisans – promoting advanced agricultural practices that improve yields, building capacities, supporting the ginning sector and training artisans to access regional and international markets.

DONOR: U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)

Recent IFDC Projects in Benin

• From Thousands to Millions (1000s+), 2006-2010
  The 1000s+ project is improving the livelihoods of one million farm households, involving 10 million people, through the up-scaling of IFDC’s Competitive Agricultural Systems and Enterprises (CASE) approach. The farmer-led initiative, based on agribusiness cluster formation, targets Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Togo. The project also focuses on Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM), improving soil fertility through the combined use of mineral and organic fertilizers.

• Accelerating Agribusiness in Africa – Bridge (AAA-Bridge), 2011-2012
  The AAA-Bridge project was an extension of Strategic Alliance for Agricultural Development in Africa (SAADA-B) activities. The objective of AAA-Bridge was to expand IFDC activities and best practices developed in West Africa, such as the Competitive Agricultural Systems and Enterprises (CASE) solution, Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM), fertilizer deep placement (FDP), fertilizer resource assessments and market information systems (MIS), into other regions of Africa. Specifically, this project expansion was designed to replicate the CASE approach and other aspects of the IFDC agribusiness model in select countries of eastern and southern Africa.

• Combating Soil Fertility Decline to Implement Smallholder Agricultural Intensification in Sub-Saharan Africa (CSD-ISFM), 1996-2004, 2006-2009
  The CSD-ISFM project promoted a holistic natural resources management (NRM) approach to agricultural intensification and provided technical backstopping to International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) projects in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Integrated Soil Fertility Management program (ISFM) was central to improved NRM, and offered such advancements as combined soil and water conservation, soil amendments, agro-forestry and mineral fertilization to create a variety of highly effective production systems across many agro-ecological zones.

DONOR: Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (TSBF-CIAT)

• Improving Cotton Productivity in Benin, 2006-2009
  The project’s objective was to strengthen the capacities of farmers and producer organizations, reduce poverty and improve livelihoods while creating sustainable increases in cotton production. The project utilized an Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) approach, improving cotton quality and quantity with superior inputs, crop protection products and more effective harvesting and storage.

DONOR: Royal Embassies of the Kingdom of the Netherlands

• Improving the Access of Non-Cotton Agricultural Producers in Benin (Benin Non-Cotton), 2009-2013
  The Benin Non-Cotton project worked to increase high-value crop productivity by 40 percent while increasing 30,000 smallholder farmer incomes by 20 percent. The project focused on increasing farmers' capacities to produce maize, pineapple and rice through access to quality agro-inputs, training and enhanced market linkages. In addition, lending institutions established guaranteed micro-financing programs.

DONOR: Royal Embassies of the Kingdom of the Netherlands

• Mainstreaming Pro-Poor Fertilizer Access and Innovative Practices in West Africa, 2010-2013
  The project improved livelihoods in West Africa with a focus on resource-poor farmers, farmer organizations and community associations through improved land husbandry and better access to, and more efficient use of fertilizer. The project utilized a holistic Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) approach to improve depleted soils. The project also focused in the areas of natural resources, improved technologies, competitive markets, private enterprise development and national policy advocacy.

• Marketing Inputs Regionally (MIR), 2002-2008
  The MIR project increased the affordability and accessibility of quality inputs for targeted smallholders in West Africa, and provided technical support and training for farmers and dealers. MIR developed regional and national regulatory frameworks, supported the advancement of farmer and agro-dealer associations, facilitated dialogue along the value chain and implemented sustainable development of the cotton agro-input sub-sector.

DONOR: The Netherlands’ Directorate-General for International Cooperation (DGIS)

• Strategic Alliance of Agricultural Development in Africa (SAADA), 2006-2010
  For the SAADA project, IFDC organized a strategic alliance of international non-governmental organizations to facilitate regional, national and multi-national agricultural intensification/agribusiness programs with an initial focus in West Africa – with project expansion into select countries of East and southern Africa. The project utilizes the Competitive Agricultural Systems and Enterprises (CASE) approach for agribusiness cluster formation and Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) to increase agricultural productivity.

DONOR: The Netherlands’ Directorate-General for International Cooperation (DGIS)

Benin Information

Benin Articles

IFDC Develops Sustainable Value Chains and Increases Profitable Agriculture in West Africa (Taken from IFDC Report Volume 36, No. 4)

IFDC Core Competency: Gender Equity is Key to Feeding the Hungry (Taken from IFDC Report Volume 36, No. 4)

WACIP Extended into 2012 and IFPRI and IFDC Study the Condition of Fertilizer Markets in West Afric (Taken from IFDC Report Volume 36, No. 2)

MIR Plus (Taken from IFDC Report Volume 36, No. 2)

Benin Brochure

Changing Lives