WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP TO REDUCE INEQUALITIES IN THE ATACORA

Reducing gender inequality in rural areas of the Atacora region

The context

Despite numerous efforts by the government, the poverty rate in Benin remains high at 40.2 percent 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, specifically the municipality of Boukoumbé and the villages of Koudogou and Kounakoogou.

The country’s economy is based on subsistence agriculture, which absorbs about 80 percent of the working population; cotton production and sales, given the country’s limited natural resources; and informal trade with Nigeria.

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

There is considerable gender inequality in Beninese society: in fact, according to the Gender Inequality Index, Benin ranks 144th out of 188. The female unemployment rate in 2018 was 51.7 percent while the female illiteracy rate is higher than the male illiteracy rate (80 percent). Moreover, as of February 2021, only 8.4 of 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 been consistently peaceful, and although the risk of terrorism has been mentioned repeatedly in recent years, Islamic radicalism has remained marginal if on the rise.

The goals

The overall objective of the project is to reduce gender inequality in rural areas of the Atacora (OG) region. The intervention will be implemented in the municipality of Boukoumbé and in particular in the villages of Koudogou and Kounakoogou. Specifically , the project aims to encourage women’s participation in social and economic activities in their communities (OS). To achieve these objectives, action must be taken to improve women’s living conditions and promote an evolution of their social status within the intervention communities. This will be divided into four activities: the first three will specifically target 3 groups of women, while the fourth will target the entire population of the two villages mentioned above.

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: Promoting horticultural activities with agroecological techniques.

Three groups of 25 women each will be selected at the villages of Koudogou (2 groups) and Kounakoogou (1 group) willing 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 plots will be identified in locations close to an irrigation-friendly water source and will serve an educational function as the women through sessions based on learning by doing will be trained on agroecological techniques such as: Compost production and its use as a natural fertilizer. Learning the technique of double spading. Integrated and eco-friendly management of agricultural pests. Weed control. Laterally, the project will provide initial basic horticultural equipment along with seeds of local vegetable species and varieties such as tomato, chili pepper, okra, African eggplant, sorrel, carrots and cabbage.

2 Promote soybean production, processing and marketing

The activity aims to enable the women involved to diversify their sources of income and consequently their autonomy, achieving a second step of economic independence and greater social recognition. They will receive support aimed at soybean production and its processing into cheese, an activity already rooted in local tradition but to be strengthened in its marketing. The beneficiaries will receive training and technical support from the project facilitator to improve their skills in processing so as to make them independent activities that will be destined for the local market or for self-consumption according to specific needs.

3 Strengthening women’s groups in organizing and marketing products

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

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

The project facilitator will then accompany the three selected groups of women to practice the notions mentioned above.

4 Raising awareness among women and their husbands about their rights and duties

Women beneficiaries and their husbands, as well as all 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 excerpts from the Family and People’s Code, for those paragraphs that deal with the issue of gender and mutual rights and duties. During these meetings, emphasis will be placed not only on women’s rights and duties but also and especially on the evolution of their status in society. Excerpts from the code will also be printed and turned into awareness materials that will be distributed to target communities.

As far as restitution, animation and information activities in the Lecco area are concerned, 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 moments: in the first one 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 one the issue of gender inequalities and how they characterize, albeit in different ways, the contexts of Lecco and Atacora in Benin will be addressed more specifically.