Benin is one of the poorest countries in the world and its economy, based mainly on subsistence agriculture, continues to deteriorate due to an increase in deforestation and a significant decrease in rainfall. Food insecurity, malnutrition, difficulties in accessing drinking water and diseases of the oral and fecal transmission are widespread. To date, 33% of Beninese rural families are unable to meet the minimum food needs (FAO and WFP data). In the Atacora department, food insecurity manifests itself in a chronic form, having for some decades experienced a strong dependence on the production system of cotton of colonial origin, which discouraged the population from investing in agricultural production for food use. Here, food insecurity is higher than in the rest of the country and reaches a worrying 51%.

The general objective of the project is to contribute to the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger in the Atacora department through the improvement and increase of the production of community basic foods, the introduction of agroecological techniques and the construction of centers processing and storage of products. The project also intend to improve the food diet of the population by diversifying products, increasing the availability of drinking water and the spread of hygiene rules for the prevention of diseases.

1. Greater and diversified agricultural production in the communities
   1125 people, divided into 45 groups, will be involved of which at least 50% women, who will participate in a training course that involves the cultivation of 15 demonstration fields entrusted to them. Agro-ecological cultivation techniques will be taught, agricultural tools and seeds of fonio, cassava, yellow corn, sweet potato, sesame, yam will be purchased. In addition to training, the opportunity will be given to apply the techniques acquired using part of the seeds distributed among the groups. In addition, 6 centers for the transformation and conservation of products will be created, some dedicated to the placement of agricultural machinery, others intended to store products for consumption and sale. A management committee will be created for each center, whose members will be provided with specific training.
2. Better and more balanced nutritional intake
   Support for 525 women, divided into 21 groups and suitably equipped with tools and seeds, for the production of horticultural products (tomatoes, okra, cabbage, beans, peas, aubergines). Each group will be entrusted with a common field, cultivated with the block farming technique: the field will be divided into lots and each beneficiary cultivated the plot assigned to it for its own family consumption, through the use of agro-ecological techniques, thus integrating the diet with important nutrients. A simple and sustainable irrigation system will be realized to ensure production even during the dry season. Finally, a training course in nutrition and food preparation will be carried out, with the aim of making known the nutritional principles of the various products and the methods of preparation and pairing to improve the family diet, especially for children.
3. Access to drinking water and improvement of sanitary conditions
   Construction of 2 wells with hand pump in the villages that most need water. For each water point, a committee for the management and maintenance of the well will be established, which, after appropriate training, will be responsible for collecting an economic contribution from users with which to provide for the maintenance of the system. For some members of the community there will also be a training course in hygienic-sanitary practices with the aim of preventing diseases with oro-fecal transmission.