UN International Year of the Woman Farmer – Insights from GOPA AFC’s Work in Northern Benin

As the United Nations dedicates 2026 to honoring the vital role of women in agriculture, GOPA AFC is proud to share our experience as the implementing consultancy for the Agricultural Investment Fund project in Benin. Our work in the Atacora and Donga departments has provided us with a front-row seat to the extraordinary impact that empowering women farmers can have—not just on agricultural productivity, but on the wellbeing and resilience of entire communities.

Women at the Heart of Agricultural Transformation

In northern Benin, women are not only active participants in agriculture—they are its backbone. Through the Agricultural Investment Fund, commissioned by Benin’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries and funded by KfW, GOPA AFC has worked directly with women at every level of the agricultural value chain. From the initial development of rice-growing lowlands and vegetable plots to the cultivation, processing, and marketing of crops, women’s involvement has been central and decisive.

For example, in the Village Rice Producers’ Cooperative of Kounadogou, women constitute over 71% of members and nearly 88% of the leadership team. They cultivate three-quarters of the available land, manage storage warehouses, and lead post-harvest operations. In many parts of Atacora, men often migrate for work, leaving women as the primary actors in agriculture and responsible for meeting the daily needs of their families. Their expertise and commitment have been essential to the project’s success.

Women at Every Stage: Driving the Agricultural Value Chain

Throughout, GOPA AFC has worked across multiple nodes of the agricultural value chain, with women playing a prominent role at each stage. Our interventions began with improving irrigation infrastructure, including the development of rice-growing lowlands and the installation of solar-powered boreholes with gravity-fed irrigation systems for vegetable production – creating the foundation for increased agricultural productivity. Women were actively involved in these activities: participating in tasks such as compacting small dikes, supplying water and manual backfilling on construction sites, and very often in providing meals for workers—a role culturally assigned to them. 

Women play a vital role in agricultural production. Apart from plowing and manual harvesting—which are mostly reserved for men—activities such as leveling, sowing, and weeding are the domain of women and they are recognized as rice production experts in the Western Otamari region of Atacora. We supported the further development of their technical skills through farmer field schools which met weekly on demonstration plots. 

Post-harvest, women lead activities such as threshing, winnowing, packaging and managing the storage of produce in warehouses constructed by the agricultural investment fund. We have strengthened their management skills so that they can organize group sales, enabling the establishment of a sustainable revolving fund for purchasing inputs and equipment.  Across the board we have found the women-led cooperatives to be highly reliable and creditworthy when it comes to the sustainable management of input funds helping establish sustainable systems. 

Furthermore, we supported women at the heart of rice processing activities; to form Village Rice Processors’ Cooperatives responsible for parboiling and preparing rice for market. The establishment of a Paddy Fund and provision of processing equipment has enabled women to expand their businesses and increase their incomes. 

At every node—from infrastructure development and cultivation, to storage, marketing, and processing—women’s leadership and participation have been central to the project’s achievements and to the broader transformation of their communities.

Empowerment with a Multiplier Effect

Our experience confirms what research has long suggested: supporting women farmers has a powerful multiplier effect. When women’s incomes rise, so too does investment in nutrition, education, healthcare, and housing for their families. Through the agricultural investment fund’s support—ranging from technical training and access to organic inputs, to infrastructure and group marketing—women in our project areas have expanded their farms, improved yields, and taken on new leadership roles.

Women’s cooperatives have also demonstrated high levels of reliability in managing group sales and revolving input funds, contributing to both the sustainability and the financial credibility of these initiatives.

Stories of Change

Women members of the Kounadogou Cooperative have reported that the quality and yield of rice produced have also increased significantly from 1.5 to 3.5 tonnes per hectare, and consequently, their agricultural income. These benefits are used as a significant contribution to meeting their households’ basic needs, specifically in education, food, health, clothing, etc. Access to credit and real estate investment (purchase of land and construction of housing) has become a reality for these women.

The story of Martine Oueyata, secretary of the Kounadogou cooperative, is just one example among many.  She explains: “ I expanded my production. I used to have a quarter hectare, today I have one and a half hectares, and with my production, I can take out loans and after the sale, I can pay them back, and I have no financial problems, no problems at home, no health problems—my health, my children’s health, as well as that of other women around me.”  She invests her profits made from agriculture directly in her family’s future :  “Our children are also able to go to school because it is with this production that we manage to sell and send our children to school. The project has changed my life and the lives of the women in my cooperative.”

A Global Call to Action

As the world celebrates the International Year of the Woman Farmer, GOPA AFC’s experience in Benin underscores a clear lesson: investing in women farmers is not just a matter of justice—it is a strategic imperative for sustainable, inclusive development. Women are leaders, innovators, and agents of change. Their empowerment leads to stronger agricultural systems and more resilient communities.

At GOPA AFC, we are committed to continuing our work alongside women farmers, governments, and partners to unlock the full potential of rural women—not just in Benin, but around the world.

For more information, please contact holly.hufnagel [at] gopa.eu (holly[dot]hufnagel[at]gopa[dot]eu)