The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), the Lives and Livelihoods Fund (LLF) and the Government of Benin launched a US$ 20 million initiative titled 'Integrated Agriculture Value Chain Development Project (PDI-CVA)'.

The project was launched at a ceremony in the Préfecture of Collines in Dassa-Zoumè.

Over five years, the PDI-CVA Project will work with local farming communities, agriculture cooperatives, the private sector, and other stakeholders to capture domestic and regional market opportunities for 25,000 households in 16,000 communes.

The project also aims to reverse Benin's economic import dependency in the rice and maize sectors, and sustainably improve the market performance and competitiveness of maize and rice value chains, thus raising the rice productivity from the average of 1.5 to 3.0 t/ha, and maize from 1.5 to 4.5 t/ha. These improvements are expected to offset approximately 100,000 households against poverty, hunger, and food insecurity.

The project will work hand-in-hand with the partner government and local agencies to train 3,000 farmers, especially women and young people, thus enabling them to keep pace with the information needs of today’s knowledge-intensive agricultural systems.