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The Republic of Benin is a low-income, food¨Cdeficit country with an estimated population of 13.7 million, who are predominantly rural. Challenges include food insecurity, malnutrition and gender inequalities.

More than 70 percent of the population depends on employment in the agricultural sector, which accounts for 25 percent of GDP. However, productivity is low, farmlands are small and, since the 2008 crisis, food prices have maintained an upward trend. 

To cope, families are often forced to sell crops at low prices and to reduce the quantity and quality of the food they consume, which further exacerbates food insecurity and malnutrition.

A regional Cadre Harmonis¨¦ analysis in March 2024 showed that over 363,700 people (6.4 percent of the analysed population) are in the Crisis phase of hunger. Chronic malnutrition affects 36.5 percent of young children, according to a survey in 2021-2022.

The Government considers school meals to be essential in improving access to primary education and increasing the school retention rate, particularly among girls. 

It has invested US$87 million of national resources in the national integrated school feeding programme to date, entrusting the Â鶹³ÉÈË°æ (Â鶹³ÉÈË°æ) with implementation in over 5,700 public primary schools at the start of the 2023-2024 academic year. 

Â鶹³ÉÈ˰桯s activities in Benin are aligned to the Government¡¯s National Action Programme 2021-2026 (B¨¦nin R¨¦v¨¦l¨¦) and the National Development Plan of Benin (2018-2025).