Benin Savings Group Boosts Business Opportunities
Photo by Jean-Michel Kpakpo/CRS
In an open-air kitchen in the courtyard of her compound, under the blazing midday sun, Aïssé Chabi Dama was hard at work turning soy into cheese.
Aïssé Chabi Dama cooks soybean paste to make cheese at her home in northern Benin. The high-protein soy cheese replaces meat and fish in local diets.
Photo by Jean-Michel Kpakpo/CRS
Accessing a loan from a formal financial institution without collateral is difficult if not impossible for women living in rural parts of Benin. Aïssé Chabi Dama knows.
Seven years ago Aïssé began processing soybeans to make cheese to better support her family. Although her business has faced challenges due to limited funding, she remains determined and hopeful for its growth and success.
“Before I lacked access to loans that could help me expand my business,” she says. “This restriction significantly hampered my growth potential.”
Things changed in November 2023, when she joined An Doo Bunu Deri, which translates from the local language as, “If you sleep, people will leave you behind.” An Doo Bunu Deri is a Savings and Internal Lending Community, or SILC group, that was formed as part of a Catholic Relief Services project called Kadjogbé Fou Itounou, which means, “Let's live and work together for peace.” The project is implemented in partnership with Caritas Parakou, and aims to support economic inclusion activities by supporting SILC groups and youth entrepreneurship. It also promotes social understanding by encouraging group collaboration, and mitigating risks of violence. As a SILC member, Aïssé has a safe place to save and borrow money.
Chabi Dama, a SILC group member within CRS’ Kadjogbé Fou Itounou project in northern Benin, says she’s delighted to be able to expand her soy cheese business thanks to small loans she now has access to.
Photo by Jean-Michel Kpakpo/CRS
With access to small loans, Aïssé was able to significantly expand her business. Now, she can purchase sacks of soybeans in bulk, which has not only increases her profits but also her production capacity.
To date, Aïssé has taken out two small loans: one for $66 and one for $50. After selling her soy cheese, she had about $50 in profit. She paid back the loans and used the remaining funds to buy clothing and food for her children.
The 26 members of An Doo Bunu Deri gained valuable skills in economic resilience, inclusive financial education strategies, social cohesion and peacebuilding through through an approach developed by CRS and implemented in partnership with Caritas Parakou as part of Kadjogbé Fou Itounou, helps individuals and groups build connections between conflicting communities. By fostering mutual trust and social cohesion, peace ambassadors play a key role in effectively implementing these practices.
“In addition to access to loans, there are many advantages to the group,” Aïssé says. “We give each other advice and support each other. We meet once a week and talk. This helps reinforce social cohesion within the community. We trust each other. If all continues to work well, I will save up to buy land and build a house for my children.”
The high-protein soy cheese, which is intended for immediate consumption and easy storage, replaces meat and fish in local diets..
Photo by Jean-Michel Kpakpo/CRS
As her business continues to grow, Aïssé says she plans to buy a grinding machine so that she doesn’t have to pay a mill and can earn money from people who come to her to grind. This would increase profit and lower costs. She says she also needs a convenient water source for good production because the well empties quickly.
“It’s like they [the project staff] came here for me,” Aïssé says. “They knew I needed access to a loan to grow my business and that’s what happened. Before I had no access to loans. Now I do and now I also have another family with the group members. We work well together. “
Kadjogbé Fou Itounou is a People-to-People Peacebuilding program funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development. Developed in response to political conflicts in 2019 and the recurrent community conflicts between farmers and herders, Kadjogbé Fou Itounou is promoting social understanding, encouraging intra- and inter-group collaboration, and mitigating risks of electoral violence, farmer-herder conflicts, the frustration of disadvantaged groups, and violent spillover from neighboring countries. The project also supports economic inclusion through Savings and Internal Lending Community groups and youth entrepreneurship, as well as integrated gender-responsive and project components.
First implemented in March 2023 by Catholic Relief Services and its partners, Caritas Parakou and Caritas Dassa in four communes of the Borgou and Collines departments, the activities expanded to the other three departments of northern Benin: Alibori, Atacora and Donga. In its extended phase, Kadjogbé Fou Itounou aims to reach 11,336 direct beneficiaries and 70,583 indirect beneficiaries by the project's completion in August 2026.
