Overview

Benin is one of West Africa’s most stable countries, with steady economic growth and a young, predominantly rural population. Yet access to nutritious diets remains a major challenge.
While most people have enough to eat, diets are largely based on cereals, roots, and tubers, with limited intake of nutrient-rich foods such as fruits, vegetables, and animal-source products.

 

Addressing Malnutrition in Benin

Hear directly from our Country Director, Françoise Sayi on the nutrition challenges in Benin and the efforts underway to address them.

 

Key Facts

 

 

 

 

The Challenge

These figures highlight the gap between food availability and diet quality in Benin. Diets remain heavily reliant on staple foods, with limited access to diverse, nutrient-rich options. Affordability continues to be a major barrier, particularly for vulnerable households, making it difficult to maintain healthy diets.

 

GAIN's Contribution

In recent years, malnutrition and hunger have worsened due to overlapping global shocks, including climate change and conflict, reinforcing the urgent need to transform food systems. Benin is among the countries affected by these challenges.

GAIN works to transform food systems so that healthier diets are accessible to everyone—especially the most vulnerable to shocks.
By 2027, GAIN aims to:

  • Improve access to nutritionally enhanced staple foods for 1.5 billion people
  • Improve access to healthier diets for 25 million people
  • Support food system transformation in 10 countries
  • This requires strong partnerships with governments, businesses, and civil society, building on over two decades of experience in improving nutrition through coordinated action and policy change

Our Work in Benin

In Benin, GAIN is supporting efforts to strengthen food systems and improve diet quality through the programmes and partnerships listed below:

SUN Business Network (SBN)

In Benin, SBN is implemented by GAIN in consortium with CARE through the CASCADE project, which supports businesses by improving access to markets, finance, and enabling policy environments for healthier diets.

Large-Scale Food Fortification 

GAIN aims to work with the World Food Programme (WFP) to increase the production of adequately fortified staple foods, such as edible oil, salt, maize flour, and wheat flour. Our focus is on supporting local firms to provide food to the national school meal programme, ensuring young children and generally Benin population have adequate access to vital minerals and vitamins such as vitamin A, iodine, iron, and folic acid.

Creating Demand for Nutritious Foods

GAIN works with partners to increase demand for nutritious, locally produced foods and improve dietary diversity in Benin.
In partnership with the World Food Programme (WFP), this includes supporting production of fortified staples and linking local suppliers to school meal programmes to improve access to key micronutrients.

 

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Contact Us

GAIN Benin Office Location

Cotonou, Benin
Les Cocotiers, C/7004
Cotonou Benin
T: +256 200 922 023