USAID/ Benin - Success Stories

USAID in Africa: Success Stories: Benin

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›Fostering Private-Public Partnership in Primary Education Works ›Local Ownership is Key to BASICS/Benin's Success in Improved Child Health Care ›Community Experience Leads to National Policy Change ›Benin Micro Enterprise Development Project Fostering Private-Public Partnership in Primary Education Works In 1990 the Government of Benin decided to reform its primary education system, which was in total collapse at the time. Among the components of the reform was the replacement of the old curriculum based on rote learning with a new one that would focus on the competencies and skills children should have. As a result of this decision, new programs were developed, tested in 30 primary schools, and progressively extended, beginning in 1999, to all the 4,500 primary schools in Benin. Tied to the introduction of the new curriculum was the development of teaching materials and student textbooks. When the experimental phase was completed in 1999, textbooks, workbooks, and other teaching materials based on the new curriculum needed to be produced for 340,000 first grade children. In the interest of strengthening local printers, cost and quick availability, local education authorities decided to have all the development and printing work done locally with the most qualified and experienced writers and printers. This was a gamble that could have compromised the entire reform program had it failed. Instead, it was a successful partnership between the Ministry of Education, private printers, the community, and USAID. Three local printers were awarded contracts totaling US$1 million to print 1.7 million French and mathematics textbooks and workbooks. Although the assignment appeared simple and routine for most printers, they were challenged with strict quality requirements. They had to urgently import more up-to-date materials, and recruit and train additional staff. While a financial burden, the printers viewed the investment as worth the expected return. One printer indicated that in addition to acquiring modern equipment, the contract allowed workers to improve their skills since some equipment required foreign experts to train workers on use and maintenance; it was a transfer of technology. They reviewed their organization of work to improve performance and meet delivery deadlines. During the two-month production period, 200 temporary jobs were created, leading to 20 permanent jobs. Once production was completed, the ministry, with financing from USAID/Benin, joined with development partners, parents, and private transport companies to distribute books to the schools. As set under the Fundamental Quality Level for primary education, one textbook in math and one in French were available for every two students. This was a striking improvement over the previous situation where several students shared one textbook. The same approach was used in 2000 for the production of second grade materials, utilizing two of the three printers. This time the Ministry of Education assumed financial responsibility for the distribution as it again coordinated its efforts with parents and the private sector. This private-public partnership has aided the education of school children, increased the capacity of private business, and set the stage for future productive development collaborations. [an error occurred while processing this directive] Local Ownership is Key to BASICS/Benin's Success in Improved Child Health Care After three years of working in the Borgou Department in Northern Benin, BASICS has contributed to improving the quality of care offered by 567 health agents, and increased the utilization of health services and prevention measures by caretakers. The BASICS three-pronged strategy focuses on health systems strengthening, community mobilization activities, and an innovative multi-media education program to improve the quality and increase the demand for health services. In BASICS intervention areas, more than 80 percent of mothers surveyed were able to cite key nutrition messages related to early initiation of breast-feeding, giving colostrum to newborns, and the introduction of complementary feeding between 4 and 6 months. In 2000, more than 60 percent of children were receiving Vitamin A supplements on a regular basis. And more than 50 percent of infants less than four months old were exclusively breast-fed, up from 19 percent according to the 1996 DHS. BASICS began its activities by signing an agreement with regional medical officers and political authorities, soliciting their support from the project's inception. The staff members of the regional health department and health facilities in the region were involved in project design, elaboration, pretesting, implementation and follow-up. The work was accomplished by the Ministry of Health (MOH) staff members themselves, leading quickly to their ownership of the concepts and activities. To have an impact on child survival and to engage health care agents in activities, BASICS chose to address malnutrition, which contributes to more than 50 percent of deaths among children under five in Benin. BASICS developed the Minimum Package of key activities for nutrition, or 'MinPak,' which consists of key behaviors to enforce or change, behaviors of individual caretakers, communities, and health agents. The key behaviors are exclusive breastfeeding through four to six months, appropriate complementary feeding with continued breastfeeding, improved consumption of Vitamin A for children and their mothers, improved consumption of iodized salt, and improved nutrition for ill or malnourished children. These behaviors are promoted by health agents during prenatal consultations, before and after delivery, during post-natal consultations, during immunization sessions, and during consultations with children. In addition, activities are planned to encourage communities to support adoption of the key behaviors. In the Borgou, the regional health department quickly adopted MinPak as its child nutrition program. Health agents were trained in key child survival messages and behaviors to adopt, and transferred this information to mothers and other family members. Materials, such as flipcharts, brochures and health cards, were designed to meet the needs of a mostly illiterate audience, based on images rather than words. Other behavior change communication techniques used included radio spots and interviews, cassettes, and traditional forms of communication, such as theater, songs, and stories based on traditional proverbs. BASICS' activities were designed and evaluated to meet the needs of the population, but also to stand up to scientific rigor. The program and materials were designed based on a situational analysis and extensive quantitative and qualitative information gathering. All materials were pretested with the target audience. Health agents participated actively in these steps, and in the monitoring and evaluation of all activities. The BASICS program will be ending in the Borgou in 2001, but the knowledge and skills adopted and applied by health agents and the regional health staff indicate that activities, and their impacts, will continue. USAID/Benin will continue to support many of those activities through its major bilateral health activity in the Borgou, PROSAF (Promotion Intégrée de Santé Familiale). Benin's MOH has adopted MinPak as a key element of its national nutrition strategy, developing an action plan and leveraging funds from other donors to sponsor workshops to adapt materials for use throughout Benin. [an error occurred while processing this directive] Community Experience Leads to National Policy Change Africare's USAID-funded child survival program in the Oueme Region of Benin has not only increased access to key family health products and information for the 64,000 people in the program zone, but also has led to significant changes in national health policy. The success of Africare's experience, with its network of 54 community-based services agents and village health committees, led to national-level adoption of the policy of community-based distribution of chloroquine-Benin's first line drug against malaria. Malaria is the leading cause of death among children under five in Benin, and the reason for one-third of all health center visits. One of the key factors contributing to this serious public health problem is widespread self-treatment with chloroquine. This is common because low quality chloroquine is widely available in nearly all of Benin's open-air markets. But the vendors, who often sell the chloroquine alongside their stocks of tomato paste and soap, do not have the knowledge to properly diagnose or recommend correct dosages to their customers. Prior to Africare's experience, there was no national health policy that allowed distribution of chloroquine by trained community-based health agents. It was officially dispensed only at health posts, hospitals and clinics. A 1999 study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Africare showed that 60 percent of the chloroquine given to children with a fever came from the village market. The low quality of chloroquine sold through the informal market, combined with incorrect administration, increased malaria's resistance to chloroquine treatment. [an error occurred while processing this directive] Benin Micro Enterprise Development Project This activity started in 1997 to issue loans to very poor persons with disadvantaged communities to help them raise their revenue levels and encourage them to participate in local development. Under this activity, Volunteers in Technical Assistance (VITA) created a local micro-finance institution (MFI) called Micro-Bank. Since it started implementation, Micro-Bank has been highly successful in offering individual loans and group loans for a 12-month term. The loans are reimbursable monthly at a 13.5 percent per year or 2 percent per month interest rate. Due to high demand for the product, the bank's clientele has reached about 4,000 micro-entrepreneurs in three major regions of Benin. VITA and Micro-Bank initially mobilized US$400,000 as credit capital from USAID/Benin bilateral democracy and governance funds and an additional $500,000 from USAID PRIME funds. Micro-Bank managed local operations and attracted funds from multiple private donors to leverage USAID's assistance in capital funding. In terms of credit portfolio management, Micro-Bank has proven to be a small but highly performing and mature institution. Micro-Bank is now registered as a local NGO with the Ministry of Interior and has signed a convention with the Ministry of Finance, which recognizes it as an MFI. To better assume its role as an autonomous MFI, Micro-Bank is reinforcing its management capacities. And to increase the focus on effective institutionalization and financial autonomy, Micro-Bank agreed to aggressively seek private funds for the next three years and shift from the "project" approach to a business management approach. One of the clients of Micro-Bank, Mme Elienne Elavagnon, a fish seller at the Cotonou Fishing Port who received a loan of FCFA 200,000, testified that the loan has enabled her to own her own business and move out of poverty. Profits made from this business, she said, will be used to reinforce her business capital and pay school fees for all her children. [an error occurred while processing this directive] More about USAID/ Benin ›Country Information ›FY 2002 Budget Justification USAID/ AFR Success Stories skip redundant nav ›Benin ›DR Congo ›Eritrea ›Ethiopia ›Ghana ›Guinea ›Kenya ›Liberia ›Madagascar ›Malawi ›Mali ›Namibia ›Rwanda ›Senegal ›Somlia ›South Africa ›Sudan ›Tanzania ›Uganda ›Zambia ›Zimbabwe ›RCSA ›REDSO/ESA

Updated: Wednesday, January 9, 2002

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