Benin is located on the West African coast, bordering Nigeria and Niger in the east, Togo in the west and Burkina Faso in the north with a total surface area of 114,763 square km. It has a total population of approximately 8 million, composed of 51.5 percent women and 17.4 percent children under 5.
Classified as a low-income country with a GDP per capita of US$1312, Benin is ranked 134th out of 169 on the 2010 UNDP Human Development Index (HDI). Two out of five people in Benin, or 37.4 percent of the population, live beneath the national poverty line.
Agriculture is the economy's key sector; however, structural problems in this sector persist, thus negatively affecting both food security, nutrition and the trade balance. In addition, floods, droughts and the impact of the global financial crisis and increase in commodity prices have exacerbated an already fragile nutritional situation in the most vulnerable regions of the country. A comprehensive food security and vulnerability analysis (CFSVA) conducted in 2008 estimates that nearly 1 million people in the country (12 percent of the population) are food insecure, that more than one third of children under 5 suffer from chronic malnutrition, and that the level of acute malnutrition is 4.7 percent. Furthermore, the HIV prevalence among adults is 2.0 percent.
With a national gross enrolment rate of 104 percent and national net enrolment rate of 88.64 percent, the overall scenario for education development in Benin looks quite promising. However, despite government commitment to provide free universal primary education, the education sector still faces various challenges and a gender gap in public primary schools. Several rural districts still have net enrolment rates below 50 percent. WFP operations in Benin support the Government’s efforts in implementing Millennium Development Goals 1 through 6.
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