In Benin, agriculture, which is the main contributor to GDP and employs approximately 701,000 people, is developing at the cost of deforestation and land degradation. Along with forestry, it constitutes a crucial socioeconomic sector, both in terms of employment and rural land use. Moreover, the heavy use of fertilizers and pesticides in Beninese agriculture promotes land and natural resource degradation, water pollution, loss of biodiversity, and low agricultural yields. This low yield is the basis for persistent poverty, food insecurity, malnutrition, and poor family access to health services and education, among other things. 

Farmers are also facing scarce rainfall and disrupted agricultural calendars due to climate change, resulting in low agricultural yields and increasing poverty and vulnerability among smallholder farmers, especially young people and women. Fishmongers (those who process fish products) are no longer finding enough fish resources, which is hampering their activities and reducing their income. 

Our solutions involve developing and implementing land restoration programs for degraded areas to ensure communities have sustainable access to fertile land. Our approach involves strengthening producers' resilience and capacity to implement profitable and sustainable family farming practices (agroecology, agroforestry, beekeeping, etc.). 

Also, we cannot conserve biodiversity and natural resources, and combat climate change, if the communities called upon to play a monitoring and surveillance role do not have sustainable livelihoods and decent incomes. This is why we are rectifying the dynamic link between people, land, and natural resources, in order to empower local communities and restore the local economy.