OCTOBER 2001

Update on our work in Benin

Dr. Fitigu Tadesse, Africa Regional Director

Change of leadership

Wawata Village THP Committee, including Leonie Donhou (front row), the African woman food farmer torchbearer for Benin.

Upon the resignation of Prof. Adhjahossou, the former Country Director, a new dynamic and competent person, a former official of the Ministry of Rural development, Mr. Pascal Djohossou, has been appointed as the new Country Director for Benin.

THP-Benin is currently working in six epicenters, namely: Wawata, Kpinnou, Athiémé, Ekpé, Ayi-Guinnou, and Zoundji. The total population of these epicenters and the surrounding villages is approximately 500,000 people.

Catalytic projects

THP-Benin has progressively expanded its work to many new villages with vast mobilization of the rural population of each epicenter through the Vision, Commitment and Action Workshop (VCAW), literacy programs and increased food production. THP-Benin has organized the population around groups working together using SPIA methodology to enhance their capacity and to ensure the common usage of available resources.

• Increased Food Production and Food Security
  THP-Benin is continuously empowering and supporting the increased participation by women in income-generating activities. Women in all the six epicenters have been trained in food production, and THP-Benin has introduced improved seeds and techniques for growing vegetables and other foods. As a result, staple food production has increased notably in all the six epicenters, especially corn, which has increased to over 1000 kg (1 metric ton) per hectare. In addition, the newly introduced rice plantation has proved very successful and is already producing 6 tons per hectare per year. Furthermore, THP-Benin has introduced new techniques for market garden produce, animal husbandry, mushroom growing, citronella essence production, food processing for consumption and for market, and fish breeding. These techniques ensure the provision of nutritional benefits such as essential vitamins and animal proteins for the children and other members of the family. As a result of their activities, it is estimated that each household has improved its income by 15% as compared to last year.

• Food Bank
  The establishment of the Food Bank in Wawata Epicenter in partnership with THP-Benin has the capacity to store 2.5 tons of cereals. This means that it is possible to ensure sufficient staple food for all 42 villages at all times. THP-Benin estimates that a benefit of CFA 250,000 will be gained from the sale of the cereal to members of the villages. This money along with the income from other activities will go to the village's revolving fund for next year's grain storage, ensuring the availability of food to the villages on a sustainable basis.

• Income Generating Activities
  The Hunger Project-Benin has a micro-credit program for income generating activities to ensure sustainable income and create self-reliance of the population in all six Epicenters. The micro-credit program focuses on:

            i.    the purchase of seedlings by men and women for lucrative vegetable gardens,
            ii.    the cultivation of citronella used in fragrant oil and in soap production,
            iii.    cattle rearing and fattening and fish ponds,
            iv.    food processing and small businesses.

The profits from these activities go both to loan repayments and to group savings for future investment. Rural Banks of THP-Benin located in each Epicenter support this program. To ensure the success of the micro-credit program, THP-Benin has created special Loan Committees in each epicenter, selected by each village's THP-Committee, to manage the rural banks and to be responsible for screening and approving potential projects and loans. These committees ensure that approval is based on the secure financial condition of the business to ensure that the loans will be repaid.

So far, 535 men and women in the six Epicenters have received total credit of CFA 8,914,650 (approx. US$12,735) at an annual interest rate of 10%. The rate of repayment is 100%. In the last six months, the population has contributed the amount of CFA 107,495 ($154) in saving in the Epicenter communal account out of profits from the income-generating activities.

• Literacy Program
  Due to the growing demand of many partner villages, THP-Benin has made it a major priority to create a literacy program targeting women in each epicenter. Teaching materials in different local languages have been prepared by THP-Benin. For this purpose, THP-Benin has created 16 different centers to encourage members to read and write in their own language. The literacy program has so far enabled over 1,300 men and women in Benin to realize their ability to read and write in their native language. This literacy program is being expanded to reach many more rural populations of our six epicenters and residents in all of the new regions of Benin.

Students in a literacy class at Atchannou Epicenter.

• Health and Hygiene
  The introduction of market garden vegetables, which are rich in iron and vitamins, is at the basis of THP-Benin's major efforts to improve health and nutritional conditions in all our partner villages. In all our epicenters, the populations use their own resources to fund small clinics to provide vaccinations for children and provide primary health care for women. Our rural partners also fund the creation of latrines and dig wells for safe drinking water. THP-Benin, in collaboration with the Health Ministry, ensures that each epicenter has a minimum of two trained midwives and four nurses available to the population. So far these health centers have served over 2,000 people. THP-Benin's future plan is to mobilize additional local resources to have a bigger, full fledged Health Center that would cater to all health matters in each of the epicenters.

• Bio Gas project
  The Bio Gas project, a sustainable, locally-generated power plant, is now complete in Wawata Epicenter. In this unique project, power is generated from "bio gas" produced from locally disposed garbage, manure and sewerage. The electricity at the Epicenter now enables the women and men of the villages to follow the literacy program and other training in the evening. In addition, each cluster of villages is working to mobilize the necessary funds to bring electricity to each village and cooking gas to each household by the year 2003. This will indeed remarkably improve their living standard. The next step for THP-Benin is to mobilize the population of the other epicenters to generate resources for a similar Biogas project.

• Vision, Commitment and Action Workshop participant at Dédékpoe Epicenter.

  Vision, Commitment and Action workshop: Animators
  The VCA workshop is organized every month in each Epicenter and is proceeding successfully. So far, THP Benin has trained 336 Animators. These young men and women are now working in their own villages to support and empower the villagers to be self-reliant in their economic development, and in the work of eradicating hunger and poverty from their villages. As in other African Countries, THP-Benin reports indicate that our partner populations and local government officials are very pleased and excited about the workshops and their results.

• Future Expansion
  During the year 2001, THP-Benin intends to consolidate its existing projects to ensure that the villagers own and master the work. Later in the year, THP-Benin will expand its work to other regions of the country: Atlantic, Mono, Zou and Ouémé. In these new regions of Benin, THP-Benin will launch VCA workshops, SPIA and micro-credit programs in conjunction with the African Women Food Farmer Initiative (AWFFI) led by the National Coordinator Mrs. Rafiatou Karim.