African Development Fund supports agricultural modernisation in Benin’s Ouémé Valley

Launched in 2014 with US$69.2mn in funding from the African Development Bank Group (AfDB)'s concessional window, the African Development Fund project has supported 14 localities across Benin’s Ouémé, Zou, and Atlantique districts

The project aims to promote rice and maize cultivation and market gardening by enhancing hydro-agricultural facilities to secure production and building storage and marketing infrastructure to ensure better integration of value chains.

The results were found to be impressive, with rice growers experiencing a remarkable increase in their average annual revenue. By the end of the project in December 2023, additional food crop production (rice, maize) had increased from 70,100 tonnes to 90,300 tonnes in the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 growing seasons.

The project’s success demonstrates the transformative power of the Bank’s targeted agricultural investment in rural African communities, improving livelihoods and food security while promoting sustainable economic growth. 

“We have increased our productivity thanks to the project, allowing us to enroll our children in school and even to university level," said Enock Koumagnon, a farmer in Sèmè-Podji. "As a simple farmer, I never imagined this would be possible.”