Promotion of Sustainable Food Systems (ProSAD)

Agroecological transition and inclusive agricultural entrepreneurship initiatives in Benin

In the departments targeted by this project (Atacora, Borgou, and Mono), small farms are in the majority. Their vulnerability to climate variations complicates agricultural production and increases the risk of crop failures, leading to food insecurity and a decline in household income. Households are therefore forced to import large quantities of food, which they struggle to pay for due to a lack of financial resources. In addition, the degradation of natural resources is a major concern for producers. The lack of paid employment for young people also complicates the situation, increasing unemployment and poverty rates.

Our action

Our goal is to improve food and nutritional security and income for populations, particularly women and young people, through two approaches:

• Strengthening the transition to sustainable food systems
• The creation of viable, efficient, and environmentally friendly agricultural businesses.

To achieve this objective, the following activities are planned:

• Train, raise awareness, and strengthen the institutional and technical capacities of partners and stakeholders (gender, environment, food diversity, cooking demonstrations, etc.).
• Facilitate access to financing for producers by developing partnerships with decentralized financial systems.
• Facilitate market access for products by implementing digital market access tools and organizing group sales.
• Strengthen sustainable entrepreneurship, particularly among young people and women, with a strong focus on environmental concerns.
• Educate the target audience (mainly women) involved in initiatives for the production, processing, and marketing of agricultural products.
• Conducting farmer-led action research: this process will enable us to test innovations with producers with the aim of finding solutions to the technical and/or organizational difficulties they encounter.
• Capitalize on and disseminate knowledge to promote knowledge management developed within Uni4coop and provide innovative solutions to producers.
• Conduct advocacy activities by organizing large-scale events on sustainable food systems in order to raise awareness among administrative authorities and increase the visibility of local products.

Summary

• Area of intervention: Borgou department (municipalities of N'Dali and Tchaourou) and Atacora department (municipalities of Natitingou and Toucountouna). This program is being launched jointly with the NGO Louvain Coopération (as part of the Uni4Coop consortium), which will carry out the above-mentioned actions in the Mono department.

• Duration: January 2022–December 2026 (5 years)

• Budget: €926,847

• Operational partners: Louvain Coopération, National Association of Women Farmers of Benin (ANaF), CONVERGENCE BENIN NGO, TIC Agro Business Center (TIC ABC), Research and Innovation Laboratory for Agricultural Development (LRIDA), Agroecological Farm for Healthy and Sustainable Food (HS Food NGO), Municipality of Merelbeke (Belgium), Hubi and Vinciane Foundation

• Financial partners: DGD, Hubi and Vinciane Foundation, Municipality of Merelbeke