Actualité

Eliminating poverty requires economic growth that is inclusive and sustainable. In other words, growth that requires everyone to get involved, especially women, through their empowerment. Despite Benin’s economic growth over the last three years, there has been a noticeable increase of poverty (IMF, 2018). This poverty affects more women than men (INSAE, 2018).
According to the results of the RGPH4, 51.17% of Beninese is female and 55.43% live in rural areas. Most of these women are managing some activities that generate income. By doing so, those women play an important role in their household expenses, such as taking care of children’s schooling and other vital needs of their offspring.
However, those activities of providing services or goods for sale are poorly framed. Many of those activities are informal and limited to small markets. Women, the main actors in those lucrative activities, lack training in management techniques and are unaware of existing support mechanisms. Similarly, they lack support in their business creation processes.
Today, the struggle against poverty cannot forgo promotion of women’s empowerment through income-generating activities. To this end, support from technical and financial partners (TFPs) is crucial in order to give a helping hand to those women in the formalization of their activities, get them up to date on funding mechanisms for income-generating activities and facilitate their access to microcredit. The government, meanwhile, must strengthen the means of the Ministry of the Family to allow a good follow-up of proximity of the promoters of income-generating activities by the centers of social promotion. It should also pursue the policy of women promoting defined through micro finance and seek support from technical and financial partners for the sustainability of these initiatives that consolidate homes.

Translation: Akouélé Rolande G.

Publication Director: Wilfried AGOUNDJEKPO