Update on our work in Benin

Epicenter strategy: SPIA work

THP-Benin has expanded its work to nine epicenters and two sub-epicenters, an area including more than 850,000 people. In September 2004, the Ouissi Epicenter was opened. The government of Benin has informed our Country Director that they appreciate The Hunger Project’s epicenter strategy as an important tool to mobilize rural populations to work for the end their own hunger and poverty. In particular, the Minister of Agriculture has indicated his commitment to work in partnership with THP-Benin to support our rural partners to achieve their final objective.

On its part, the leadership of THP-Benin, as in the other THP countries in Africa, has made sure that our partners in the rural areas of Benin are working together on their communal lands to ensure increased food production and food security in their areas by filling their community food banks in the epicenters as well as their household granaries.

Vision, Commitment and Action (VCA) workshops: Animator training

THP-Benin continues to conduct VCA workshops in all the nine Epicenters. So far, THP Benin has delivered VCAs to over 46,000 men and women, with 800 trained animators since its inception in 1999. These animators, trained to work with their own people, act as role models through their personal leadership to support and empower people in their villagers to be self-reliant in their efforts to end their own hunger and poverty. THP-Benin has reported that our partner populations and local government officials very much appreciate the workshops and their transformational effect on the behavior of the rural populations.

Women breaking rocks for epicenter building construction

VCA participants at the Ouissi epicenter.

VCAW at Dekpo epicenter.

Jennifer Thomson leads VCAW at Avlame Epicenter.

Catalytic projects

·        Increased Food Production and Food Security

THP-Benin is continuously empowering and supporting farmers to increase and diversify their food production, introducing different varieties of maize, rice, corn and other vegetables such as onions and carrots. Women’s participation in food production and income-generating activities has tremendously increased in the last few years as a result of the effectiveness of the African Woman Food Farmer Initiative (AWFFI) program that provides credit and training.  The AWFFI training frequently includes food production with improved seeds and appropriate techniques for growing vegetables and food processing. These projects have consistently improved the household income as compared to previous years.

• Food Banks

The Food Banks, established both at household and epicenter level in Benin as part of the Epicenter strategy, involve the full partnership of the population resulting in increased food production and storage to avoid hunger and starvation during the lean season.

• Rural Banks

THP’s micro-finance program for men and women continues to be an important tool for food production and income generating activities which will enable rural populations to work towards self-reliance and sustainable development in all the epicenters. The three elements of the Revolving Loan Funds are the principal and interest of the loan repayments, as well as savings.  These funds will enable THP-Benin to create “Rural Banks” in some of their epicenters in 2005.

·        Literacy Program

Adult literacy in the local languages where the epicenters are located is indeed an important program of empowerment of our partners and to promote the end of hunger and poverty. The adult literacy program is designed for both men and women, although it is the women who are the major players in the work of ending hunger and poverty at both the household and village level.  THP-Benin has acquired teaching materials from the government and has created over 30 different centers to encourage members to read and write in their own language.  To make it easier for our partners, the literacy classes are conducted by our own animators who are specially trained for this task by THP-Benin. So far THP-Benin has trained over 400 teachers and animators to teach in local languages, resulting in some 13,000 literate men and women in the nine epicenters.

• Health and Hygiene

In each of the nine epicenters there is a health center with a view to improve health and nutritional conditions of our partner villages. The clinics in these epicenters provide vaccinations for children and primary health care for women. The local governments in partnership with our rural partners also fund the construction of latrines and equipment for digging wells for safe drinking water. In collaboration with THP, the Health Ministry, as an expression of the government’s partnership, supplies to each epicenter a minimum of two trained heath officers who are available to the population at all times.

·        HIV/AIDS program

Last year, THP-Benin launched the program for the prevention of the spread of HIV/AIDS with THP’s “HIV/AIDS and Gender Inequality” workshop in all nine epicenters. There are now over 250 specialized HIV/AIDS animators trained to teach our partners about the prevention of HIV/AIDS, especially through a new understanding and behavior based on gender equality.

This program is clearly creating the awareness that gender inequality is one of the root causes for the spread of AIDS and that if men can take responsibility in this matter and commit themselves to safe sex, the spread of AIDS could be dramatically reduced.  Indeed, this program is having a great impact on our partners – local health officials have reported that the trend of infections has been dramatically reduced among our partners.