Benin Savings Group Opens Livelihood Opportunities
Elisabeth Sanhongou stands inside a local mill in Sanson village in Tchaourou municipality of northern Benin. The noise from the motor is deafening as the machine grinds down peanuts into a thick paste.
Louis Mahouchi, a local mill owner, grinds roasted peanuts into a paste. The paste will be used for fried peanut snacks.
Photo by Jennifer Lazuta/CRS
Earlier in the week, Elisabeth shells and roasts the peanuts before grinding them into paste. The paste is used to make biscuit-like snacks called kluiklui.
A mother of seven who recently lost her husband, Elisabeth says this activity, which was made possible thanks to a Savings and Internal Lending Community, or SILC group, has allowed her to provide for her family. She can now take out small loans.
“Before, I only worked in the fields,” Elisabeth says. “Especially after my husband died, we suffered a lot. But now, thanks to SILC, I can buy the materials to transform peanuts into biscuits.”
Elisabeth Sanhongou removes excess oil from a peanut paste, which she will shape and fry in hot oil to make locally popular biscuits known as kluiklui.
Photo by Jean-Michel Kpakpo/CRS
The group was formed as part of the Kadjogbé Fou Itounou project, which translates as “Let’s Live and Work Together in Peace.” Implemented by Catholic Relief Services and its partner, Caritas Parakou, the project supports economic inclusion of vulnerable community members through the savings groups and youth entrepreneurship, while promoting social understanding and collaboration and mitigating risks of violence.
Elisabeth’s first loan from the Strength in Unity SILC group was for $16. She added to that $15 of her personal savings and was able to buy three sacks of peanuts, as well as some new materials, such as a basin and slotted spoons.
After selling her first batches, Elisabeth earned $7 in profit. Subsequent batches now earn her $14, as the initial costs of the business materials are no longer needed.
Elisabeth Sanhongou cooks shaped peanut paste in hot oil to make fried snacks outside her home in northern Benin.
Photo by Jennifer Lazuta/CRS
Every few days, Elisabeth returns home with some peanut paste and lights a fire under a large silver wok. As she waits for the pan to heat up, she methodically pounds it down, over and over, squeezing out the oil until she has a drier, dough-like paste. With this, she will form long, skinny pretzel-like sticks, as well as small gumball-sized balls. She will use the extracted peanut oil to fry the snacks. The rest of the peanut oil will be sold to increase Elisabeth's profit.
After dropping them into the hot oil for a few minutes, Elisabeth will let them cool and dry. They will soon be ready to sell to local shops or at the market.
Elisabeth Sanhongou displays her finished peanut snacks. She will sell them at the local market and to a small shop owner.
Photo by Jennifer Lazuta/CRS
Elisabeth will use the money she makes to pay her children’s school fees and buy household necessities like food and other basic needs.
“I still continue the work in the fields, but this activity really helps my family,” she says. “And it is thanks to SILC this is possible. Without the loan, I never could have bought the materials.”
The Kadjogbé Fou Itounou project is a U.S. Agency for International Development, People-to-People Peacebuilding program. Developed in response to political conflicts in 2019 and the recurrent community conflicts between farmers and herders, Kadjogbé Fou Itounou promotes social understanding, encouraging intra- and inter-group collaboration, and mitigates risks of electoral violence, farmer-herder conflicts, the frustration of disadvantaged groups, and violent spillover from neighboring countries. The project also supports economic inclusion activities through Savings and Internal Lending Community and youth entrepreneurship approaches, as well as integrated gender-responsive and transformative interventions. 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, the Kadjogbé Fou Itounou project aims to reach 11,336 direct beneficiaries and 70,583 indirect beneficiaries by the project's completion in August 2026.
