Carter Center Global Health Efforts - Benin

Activities By Country

Fighting Disease: Benin

Working hand in hand with the Benin Ministry of Agriculture, the Carter Center's Agriculture Program assisted farmers in Benin with agricultural production from 1989-1996. The program, in partnership with the Sasakawa Africa Association, led by the late Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Norman Borlaug, was part of a larger joint initiative that has helped more than 8 million small-scale, sub-Saharan farmers double or triple crop yields in countries where malnutrition is a constant threat.

The program in Benin assisted 100,000 families to adopt green manure crops, such as velvet bean, quality protein maize, and rice. Improved seeds, paired with the use of new farming technologies, helped farmers enhance soil fertility, control noxious weeds, and increase crop yield.

The new strategies were a great success. The higher crop yields farmers received allowed them to sell two to three surplus bags of maize each harvest. The program then aided farmers in identifying local markets to sell these surpluses. In addition, most farmers were able to save enough money from these earnings to diversify their holdings by purchasing livestock or different types of seeds.

Yet obstacles remained, including the physical distance to the nearest bank. Consequently, the Agriculture Program, in conjunction with the Ministry of Rural Development, assisted farmers to develop savings and loan banks in villages, giving them an organization they could trust and control.

This new village-based savings and loan movement, called the Caisse Rurale d'Epargne et de Prêt, or CREP, brought together key members of the local community – farmers, small traders, artisans, and cattle owners – to contribute resources and create their own caisse, or savings and loan association.

One of the first CREPs was established in the village of Gbowimè in the Mono region. When the Agriculture Program began activities in Benin in 1989, Gbowimè was one of the first villages to participate through maize production test plots. The new technology demonstrated in these test plots had a direct benefit for farmers. They were able to save money from their earnings and put it to work for them.

In 1991, 91 people in Gbowimè created their own CREP, freely electing their own board, including a president, secretary, treasurer, and other officers. But before money could be lent, they needed to raise a significant amount of money to get started, a daunting task when the average annual income in Benin is less than $220 USD. The CREP decided that each member must pay a small amount to join and that the dues would be put together in one large account, establishing that their money would earn a 6 percent annual return.

The Gbowimè CREP started to loan money to members in 1993, with eight people taking a total $532 USD in loans. By mid-1999, Gbowimè's bank assets, countrywide, were $1.25 million USD. Loans totaled $365,000 USD, and membership was in the thousands. This is an extraordinary achievement for a nation where as many as one-third of all people live below the national poverty line.

Today, CREPs have specialized extension officers and field accountants in six regional centers in Benin, who visit these banks on a regular basis. The accountants are prohibited from handling cash, and the banks must contribute to their salaries.

Benin's program has inspired other nations such as Burkina Faso, Togo, and Mali to adopt similar savings and loan programs.

Successes like these led The Carter Center and the Sasakawa Africa Association to end its in-country agricultural activities in Benin in 1999.