CRS in Benin

Benin is a West African country located between Togo and Nigeria and bordered to the North by Burkina Faso and Niger. It boasts a varied geography, from lush forests to beautiful coastlines. Its diverse culture mirrors its rich history and numerous ethnic traditions. Inspired by their resilience and creativity, CRS serves Benin’s people by supporting their rights and development through culturally appropriate and sustainable programs, empowering local leaders and fostering partnerships based on mutual respect and shared goals.

In Benin, a country with over 13 million people that is classified as a least-development country by the United Nations, CRS focuses on these programs.

Social Cohesion

CRS implements Kadjogbé Fou Itounou, which means “let us live and work together for peace” in the Nagot language. Kadjogbé Fou Itounou is a US Agency for International Development People-to-People peacebuilding program. In partnership with Caritas Benin, Caritas Parakou, and Caritas Dassa, CRS implements the program in eleven communes in seven departments of northern Benin. In response to recurrent community conflicts in the north including those between farmers and herders, CRS is implementing Kadjogbé Fou Itounou to promote social understanding, encourage intra- and inter-group cooperation, and mitigate the risks of electoral violence, farmer-herder conflicts, frustration among disadvantaged groups, and violent spillover from neighboring countries. The project improves the resilience of traditional, political, and religious leaders and communities (including youth, women, and marginalized groups) to peacefully manage the conflicts. It also supports the collaboration of these actors to improve inter-group trust and understanding and engage in mutually beneficial activities though social cohesion approaches as well as Income generating and entrepreneurship activities. In response to a loss of jobs and livelihoods in northern Benin, the Kadjogbe fou Itounou project is also rolling out entrepreneurship training and grants to youth, women, and vulnerable people to boost their economic capabilities and purchasing power.

With the support of the PATRIP Foundation, Nuwaki, which means “Union” in the Biali language, is being implemented in the commune of Materi in the department of Atacora and the neighboring area in Togo, both of which are affected by violent extremism stemming from the Sahel crisis. The program aims to prevent violent conflict along the Benin-Togo border by strengthening resilience, social cohesion and cross-border cooperation. Nuwaki brings together community members and government officials to improve the availability of and access to climate-smart infrastructure, strengthen social cohesion mechanisms for conflict resolution and prevention, and build capacity for improved natural resource management. The project is being implemented in partnership with Caritas Natitingou.

Education

Keun Faaba means “support education” in the Bariba language. Also, it is the program strengthening schools in northern Benin since 2014. Now in its third phase and running until 2026, the United States Department of Agriculture McGovern-Dole Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program is working with 111,163 participants (children, teachers, and parents) in 168 primary schools in the communes of Banikoara, Bembereke, Nikki and Sinendé in the departments of Alibori and Borgou.

Keun Faaba (1) provides daily meals to around 56,000 children per year, (2) improves student literacy by strengthening teacher capacity, (3) promotes good hygiene and sanitation practices and WASH-friendly school certification, and (4) locally sources 30% of the tonnage used in school canteen activities and ensures quality control. Savings and Internal Lending Community (SILC) groups provide increased economic and cultural incentives for parents to enroll and keep their children in school and to contribute to school canteens. Keu Faaba is being implemented in partnership with American Institutes for Research (AIR), DEDRAS and Caritas Benin.

Agriculture, Economic Recovery and Livelihoods Entrepreneurship

Farmer-to-Farmer The United States Agency for International Development-funded Farmer-to-Farmer program, builds the capacity of farmers’ organizations, processing factories and other agricultural stakeholders involved in the cashew, soybean, oil palm, pineapple, and vegetable production value chains. It does this via short-term technical assistance from American and Beninese agriculture and business expert volunteers. The Farmer-to-Farmer program supported 37 organizations with 101 technical assistance missions. Over the course of the program, the annual net income of organizations working in the cashew and soybean value chains increased from $5.7 million in 2018 to $7.8 million in 2023. As a result of these missions, the capacity of more than 4,201 farmers was strengthened, with a total of 17,644 indirect participants benefiting.

CRS promotes sustainable natural resource management in the Matéri commune through the Nuwaki project, employing a specific strategy that addresses issues and focuses on training small-scale producers in agro-ecological practices while encouraging sustainable seedling production in communities.

Health

CRS supported the Ministry of Health’s efforts to digitize its health campaigns for greater efficiency and effectiveness, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. With CRS’ technical support, the Ministry of Health digitized the nationwide insecticide-treated mosquito net campaigns in 2020 and 2023 as well as the seasonal malarial chemoprevention and onchocerciasis campaigns in 2021 and 2022. Over the course of the program, CRS worked to progressively transfer equipment, expertise, and data to the Ministry of Health to enable it to take ownership of its future digitized campaigns.

Gender and Household Equity

CRS supports two Catholic dioceses to implement the gender-empowering Faithful House approach as part of the dioceses’ support to couples preparing for marriage. The Faithful House approach aims to redress the power imbalance in households and improve family well-being. In faith-based and gender-sensitive workshops, female and male heads of household examine power dynamics and traditional roles in relation to their religious beliefs. This reflection leads to greater mutual trust among couples and fairer negotiations over issues of food, building a family, and money, resulting in less domestic violence and greater household well-being, especially for children.

Improving Household Equity

In Benin, male heads of household exert more control over fertility, food, and cash than their spouses The condition is exacerbated by cultural practices that inhibit women’s full potential. To address this imbalance and improve household well-being, CRS Benin has incorporated The Faithful House curriculum into several of its projects. This faith-based and gender-sensitive curriculum requires deeper reflection by men and women heads of household to examine their traditional roles and responsibilities by relating their behaviors to their religious beliefs. It results in a radical change in thinking and behavior, resulting in greater mutual trust, negotiation on issues of feeding, fertility and cash among couples as equals, and greater household wellbeing, especially for their children. The change is so notable among participants that they have become exemplary couples for addressing marital issues among their neighbors.

Partnership And Capacity Strengthening

Partnership is at the heart of our approach, with strong collaboration between civil society and the public and private sectors to find solutions to poverty and injustice. In Benin, CRS works with several Catholic dioceses, various local NGOs, and government actors to strengthen their human and organizational capacity to implement humanitarian and development projects that serve the poorest and most vulnerable.

Our Partners

• Caritas Benin
• Caritas Parakou
• Caritas Dassa
• Caritas Natitingou
• Dedras ONG
• American Institutes of Research (AIR)

CRS' History in Benin

Catholic Relief Services has been working in Benin since 1958. CRS' early years in Benin were characterized by rural projects reinforcing the economic, health, cultural and social development of local communities. Activities included school feeding, social cohesion, health and nutrition interventions.

Today, CRS is proudly involved in projects that address multiple national priorities: counteract violent extremism and gender-based violence, improve education, improve family incomes and eradicate malaria. CRS Benin also strengthens the organizational capacity of the Church to more effectively achieve its mission in Benin.

We work with 19 church and non-church partners in 10 of 12 departments in Benin and have over 70 staff in the main office in Cotonou and sub-offices in Parakou in northern Benin, as well as in the surrounding communities. In 2024 our work reached 1,691,350 people among a population over 13 million, without regard to ethnicity or creed.