Food Security and Nutrition

1. Sector context and challenges

Agriculture is a pillar of Benin's economy: it contributes around 35% of GDP and provides the main source of income for nearly 70% of the working population. The sector plays a decisive role in food security, job creation, and the economic development of rural areas, from the agropastoral North to the market-gardening and coastal South.

The complementarities between Benin and the Netherlands are particularly strong in this sector: the Netherlands brings recognised expertise in horticulture, seeds, irrigation, water management, and climate-smart agriculture  expertise mobilised through a dense Portfolio of projects and programmes spanning the entire country, from north to south.

2. Portfolio of projects and programmes

IMPLEMENTED

Drops for Crops (2018/2019–2026, Woord en Daad and Dedras NGO)
This project aims to improve efficient water management for fruit and vegetable producers in Atacora and Donga (Péhunco, Natitingou, Tanguiéta, Ouaké, Djougou). It targets 1,050 producers, 60% of them women. 630 have already reduced their water use from 121 to 60 m³/ha through new irrigation techniques, with one cooperative's annual turnover rising from €250,000 to €1.7 million.

Integrated School Feeding Programme (PNASI) (July 2019–December 2023; WFP, UNICEF)
A national school feeding programme built on purchasing food from local smallholder farmers. In the 2022–2023 school year alone, 396 schools were covered, 85,119 pupils reached (47% girls), and 29 farmer organisations bringing together 9,300 smallholders  including 3,200 women  became food suppliers to the school network, creating a stable outlet for local production.

SafeVeg and Nutrition Security (2020–2025; World Vegetable Center, GAIN, CIRAD, Wageningen)
Programmes promoting vegetable consumption and large-scale food fortification, reaching more than 90,000 consumers and 250,000 children from low-income households, with support from GAIN.

ONGOING

ACMA3 (Communal Approach to Agricultural Markets 3) 
Deployed in December 2022 until the end of November 2027 in Borgou, Donga, and Collines by the IFDC, CARE, and KIT consortium, ACMA3 is the third phase of a Netherlands funded programme in place since 2013 (following ACMA1 and ACMA2), aiming to foster a dynamic private agricultural and agri-food sector. It targets 140,000 economic actors, expects to create 5,000 new jobs for young people and women, and aims to facilitate at least FCFA 5 billion in credit for agricultural value chains.

EJASA 2 (Youth Employment for Improved Food Security in Northern Benin)
EJASA is a programme supporting agricultural entrepreneurship in Alibori and Atacora, targeting 12,500 young people aged 18 to 35 (50% women). Its objective is to raise individual incomes to FCFA 200,000 for 11,000 agri-entrepreneurs. It is co-financed with the European Union and implemented by SNV over a four-year period (2023–2027). 

BeniBiz Phase 2 (2022–2027; TechnoServe, Swiss Confederation, European Union)
A programme supporting Benin's entrepreneurial ecosystem, aiming for turnover growth of up to +100% for young entrepreneurs and micro-enterprises, with more than 8,500 entrepreneurs trained across the country.
BENIPOULE (2026–2030, TechnoServe)
A new project to transform Benin's poultry sector. 

3. Overall sector contribution

Dutch support contributes to the sustainable transformation of Beninese agricultural systems by fostering innovation, knowledge transfer, and partnerships between public and private actors. These initiatives have strengthened agricultural value chains  particularly in vegetable farming, poultry, and horticulture  while improving producers' access to effective technologies and appropriate support services. These initiatives often combine support to production with support to market access, as illustrated by the link established between local sourcing and school canteens under PNASI.

The presence of Dutch companies such as Holland GreenTech, Rijk Zwaan, East-West Seed, Terranauta, FarmTree, and eProd illustrates the contribution of the Dutch private sector to modernising Beninese agriculture, alongside implementing organisations such as SNV, IFDC, TechnoServe, CARE, GAIN, and the World Vegetable Center. Together, these actors are helping to build a more resilient, more productive, and more market-oriented agricultural ecosystem.