FEMALE PROTAGONISM TO REDUCE INEQUALITIES IN ATACORA

Reducing gender inequalities in rural areas of the Atacora region

The context

Despite numerous efforts by the government, the poverty rate in Benin remains high (40,2% of the population) and the country still faces major development challenges, particularly food insecurity, malnutrition, illiteracy and gender inequality.

The operational context of the project will be the department of Atacora, namely the municipality of Boukoumbé and the villages of Koudogou and Kounakoogou.

The country's economy is based on subsistence agriculture, which absorbs about 80% of the active population; on the production and sale of cotton, given the limited natural resources of the country; and on informal trade with Nigeria.

Although the country's economic growth prospects are good, the living conditions of the population remain susceptible to external shocks, such as climate change, cotton prices and economic developments in Nigeria, on which Benin is heavily dependent.

In Beninese society there is a notable gender disparity: in fact, According to the Gender Inequality Index, Benin ranks 144th out of 188. The female unemployment rate in 2018 was 51,7% while the female illiteracy rate is higher than the male one (80%). Furthermore, in February 2021 only 8,4 of the parliamentary seats were occupied by women.

Politically, President Talon's rise to power in April 2016 reaffirmed the stability of democracy in Benin. Elections have always been peaceful and, although the risk of terrorism has been mentioned several times in recent years, Islamic radicalism has remained marginal, albeit growing.

The goals

The project has as its general objective to reduce gender inequalities in rural areas of the Atacora region (OG). The intervention will be carried out in the municipality of Boukoumbé and in particular in the villages of Koudogou and Kounakoogou. Specifically The project aims to promote women's participation in social and economic activities in their communities (OS). To achieve these objectives, it is necessary to act to improve the living conditions of women and promote an evolution of their social status within the communities of intervention. All this will be divided into four activities: the first three will have as a specific target 3 groups of women, while the fourth will target the entire population of the two villages mentioned.

The activities

The project proposal, promoted by Mani Tese ETS in partnership with the Association interafricaine pour le developpement solidaire “Kibare” has an expected duration of 12 months and is divided into four different activities in Benin and a moment of restitution in Italy.

1: Promote horticultural activities with agroecological techniques

3 groups of 25 women each will be selected from the villages of Koudogou (2 groups) and Kounakoogou (1 group) available and interested in working in horticulture in a common plot divided into individual plots in which they can produce food for themselves and their families. The lands will be identified in locations close to a water source for irrigation and will have an educational function as the women will be trained in agroecological techniques through sessions based on learning by doing such as: Compost production and its use as a natural fertilizer. Learning the double digging technique. Integrated and eco-friendly management of agricultural pests. Weed control. Laterally, the project will provide initial basic equipment for horticulture together with seeds of local vegetable species and varieties such as tomato, chilli, okra, African eggplant, sorrel, carrots and cabbage.

2 Promote the production, processing and marketing of soybeans

The activity aims to allow the women involved to diversify their sources of income and consequently their autonomy, reaching a second step of economic independence and greater social recognition. They will receive support aimed at producing soy and transforming it into cheese, an activity already rooted in local tradition but to be strengthened in its commercialization. The beneficiaries will receive training and technical support from the project animator to improve their skills in transformation so as to make the activities independent and destined for the local market or for self-consumption based on specific needs.

3 Strengthen women's groups in organizing and marketing products

In order to provide the members of the three target groups with the necessary skills in marketing and commercialization of their products, a training course on the topic will be offered. It will be held by a consultant experienced in financial education and marketing. The two-day course will cover the following topics:

  • Product presentation,
  • Market research,
  • Marketing,
  • Partnership development,
  • Financial education,
  • Accounting management.

The project facilitator will then accompany the three selected groups of women in putting the above-mentioned notions into practice.

4 Sensitize women and their husbands about their rights and duties

The beneficiary women and their husbands, as well as all the inhabitants of the two villages of Koudogou and Kounakoogou, will be sensitized on women's rights and duties. Three meetings will be held for each of the two villages, facilitated by an expert, which will consist of the presentation and dissemination of extracts from the family and personal code, for those paragraphs that concern the issue of gender and reciprocal rights and duties. During these meetings, the emphasis will be placed not only on women's rights and duties but also and above all on the evolution of their status in society. Extracts of the code will also be printed and transformed into awareness-raising materials that will be distributed to the target communities.

As regards the activity of restitution, animation and information in the Lecco area, an event will be proposed to which representatives of the Lecco Committee for Peace and Cooperation among Peoples will also be invited. It will be divided into two parts: in the first, a reflection on the theme of inequalities will be proposed, with the participation of subjects committed to the theme active in the Lecco area, in the second, the issue of gender inequalities will be addressed more specifically and how these characterize, albeit in different ways, the contexts of Lecco and Atacora in Benin.