International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD); Co-financed by DANIDA and the Government of Benin

The objectives of this project are to raise small holder incomes, increase food security, protect the environment, and enhance the living conditions of the beneficiaries. To achieve these objectives, the project promoted a strategy aiming at income-generating activities in rural areas. This strategy was based on a micro-enterprise initiative and the establishment of viable grass-roots institutions at individual and group level. The institutions were set up to manage village infrastructure; support literacy and farmer training programmes; strengthen local institutional capacity and promote local financial intermediation. In order to increase food security, food crop production was intensified and processing and stocking technologies, as well as marketing were improved. Sustainable agricultural production systems were designed to maintain soil fertility and protect against land degradation. The major thrust of this project was to establish village-level financial associations linked to the credit union system. These associations provide loans to shareholders. Women represent 32 percent of the total shareholder body, and hold 18 percent of total shares. They also represent 32 percent of the total number of borrowers.

Land resource management, sustainable agriculture, finance, investment, trade, economic growth, poverty, capacity building.

• 21 villages have already finalized their development plans, and several investments are initiated with various groups in cassava and palm oil processing, as well as maintenance and construction of rural infrastructure.

• Training has been carried out to strengthen management and technical skills of the beneficiaries.

• 21 village-level micro-finance associations have been created and are operational in providing loans to shareholders. They are showing a promising trend in their growth. They include 5000 shareholders, with a total asset of US$ 75,000 and US$ 110,000 have been issued as loans to over 2,400 borrowers. The overall loan recovery rate stands at 96 percent.