Benin: Supporting market gardening cooperatives to cope with climate hazards and insecurity

Kotedji Rekia est vice-présidente d’une coopérative de maraîchage depuis 18 ans, à Guéné dans le nord du Bénin, à 40 kilomètres de la frontière avec le Niger. Composée de 30 femmes et trois hommes, la coopérative Souru Badu, qui veut dire « la patience paye » dans le dialecte dendi, a vu le jour en 2005. C’est grâce à ce jardin maraîcher qui se trouve à quelques kilomètres de chez elle, que Kotedji Rekia a pu repiquer certains semis dans son jardin privé. Sur la parcelle de la coopérative Souru Badu, on trouve des fruits et des légumes tels que des tomates, du gombo, des choux, des carottes ou des oignons.

For a long time, Kotedji Rekia and the other members of the cooperative happily sold their products in the bustling markets on both sides of the Nigerien border. However, since the border closed owing to growing insecurity, customers from Niger no longer come to them. As markets in Niger are no longer reachable by taxi, it is now necessary to cross a river, which makes access very limited. “Today, going to Gaya is difficult. We have to cross the water. It’s risky,” laments Kotedji Rekia. For the same reason, prices have risen considerably. While seeds at the Gaya market used to cost 10,000 West African CFA francs (17 US dollars), they now cost FCFA 16,000 (USD 27).

Noelie Iboulou is one of the youngest recruits of the Souru Badu cooperative. Thanks to her knowledge of the trade and her studies at an agricultural technical school, she became the cooperative’s secretary-general. She is also Kotedji Rekia’s niece.

“The security crisis has really affected the cooperative. Before, women would leave Gaya in Niger to come and buy our products. Now, because of the crises, they can’t come. On our side, we don’t sell our products in Guénè Centre. We often go to small villages to sell okra, carrots and other vegetables. Now, because of these crises, we can’t go there as there’s too much insecurity on the road,” says Noélie.

Yet, the cooperative’s work is precious to the community: its harvests feed its members and their families, and any surplus is donated for school meals, friends or neighbours, or else it is sold. The proceeds from sales allow Kotedji Rekia and her colleagues to buy bags of maize, sorghum or pearl millet for resale. The surplus money is placed in a bank account in the cooperative’s name.

For example, in 2025, Kotedji Rekia fell ill. Thanks to the savings made by the cooperative, she was able to access the medical care needed for her recovery. The Souru Badu cooperative is more than a livelihood; it is a social safety net, the proper functioning of which has become all the more essential since insecurity reached the Beninese border.

This social protection is intended to benefit everyone. Of the 33 members, five women are displaced persons who came from both sides of the border with Niger or Burkina Faso. “We tried to integrate them into the cooperative so that we have social cohesion and so they don’t feel excluded or marginalized,” explains Noélie. “These are women who were already working, who were doing market gardening in their hometowns. It’s important to integrate them into the cooperative. It will allow them to earn enough to eat and work to have money, and to prevent children from engaging in harmful activities.”

Not far from Guénè, in the village of Dèguè-Dègué, Oumarou Sido’s maize fields are already almost ripe. Soon, he and his family will be able to harvest and ensure their food supply. Having arrived three years ago, Oumarou Sido, his wife and their seven children were able to count on the hospitality of Dèguè-Dègué residents to find a house and a plot of land for growing maize, beans and pearl millet. Before the security situation deteriorated around W National Park in Benin, Oumarou Sido had fertile land where he farmed and reared livestock. But here, there is not enough space to do everything.

Insecurity on both sides of the Benin-Niger border is reducing community access to fertile land. Market gardens, such as the one run by the Souru Badu cooperative, allow affected populations to cultivate seeds near their villages, preventing them from travelling long distances and crossing insecure areas. Similarly, Oumarou Sido has a field bordering his house. However, the cultivated areas remain small, making the use of improved seeds, which guarantee higher yields, all the more necessary.

Thanks to support from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), since the beginning of 2026, 2,000 families have benefitted from improved seeds with shorter growing cycles, higher yields and greater resistance to climate hazards, helping them meet their needs. In Oumarou Sido’s case, the maize variety distributed to him is recognized for its superior nutritional qualities, which are practically equivalent to the protein content of an egg. In terms of consumption, this maize variety will therefore be of greater benefit to producers who grow it for food.

“Improved seeds are also resistant to the climate realities of the region. In northern Benin, there is only one rainy season. So, it’s essential that this maize can thrive during this rainy season. Therefore, these are short-cycle seeds. As such, provided that sowing is carried out according to the recommended schedule, the crops can thrive during the only rainy period we have,” explains Abdoul-Tawab Moutarou, ICRC Economic Security Programme Officer in Benin.

In 2027, the ICRC will support five additional market gardening groups, representing 125 families. They will receive tomato, onion, squash, cabbage, carrot and okra seeds, as well as a solar pump each to maintain their plots. In addition, around one hundred families with limited access to arable land will receive market gardening kits consisting of seeds, agricultural tools and fertilizers, as well as working capital to set up family allotments. This will enable them to sustainably strengthen their productive capacities, diversify their diets and improve their incomes.