Benin is ranked among the poorest countries in the world, and despite efforts to boost the economy and a high growth rate, the informal sector still dominates the economy. Here, illiteracy is high and more than half of the youth are not attending school. More than 50 pct. of women live in rural areas where unemployment rates are high and underemployment even higher. Especially women and young people are most affected. 

This project, led by Association des Personnes Rénovatrices des Technologies Traditionnelles (APRETECTRA), serves as a response to the low social demand for gender equality in education policies and particularly to the problem of low access for girls to training opportunities offered by Benin's 10 technical agricultural colleges.  

The overall aim is to promote a national consensus between the state and civil society to make progress in the fight for gender equality in agropastoral training courses. This shall contribute to long-term changes of a strong commitment from civil society and the state, which ultimately will result in equitable access to agricultural colleges for vulnerable and marginalised girls. 

The project will include the following key activities: 

• A study on the obstacles to girls' access to and retention in agricultural training and creating a community action plan to promote access for girls to agricultural colleges, as well as a plan to develop the leadership of right holders in agricultural training. 

• To mobilise civil society actors in favour of girls' access to agricultural training and employment opportunities and train 12 CSOs and 10 "girls' rights" units on technical strategies and advocacy tools, social mobilisation, gender equality, and inclusion. 

• Develop and implement an advocacy strategy for those in positions of power and organise 3 national dialogues on the issues of access and retention of girls in agricultural training and employment. 

• Develop and implement accountability mechanisms and mechanisms for public scrutiny of the budget, education policy, and government commitments to inclusive education.

The main challenges that the project will address includes: 

• The states low financial commitment to technical agricultural education. 

• Limited access to data on the agricultural education sector. 

• A lack of awareness of girls and womens rights and the issues of girls in transition to technical education colleges, which result in these girls not being encouraged to campaign for equitable access. 

• The rural community's lack of access to information about the training and employment opportunities offered by agricultural colleges. 

• Civil society's lack of commitment to equality in this sub-sector due to insufficient information, mobilisation, organisation, and capacity. 

• Weak implementation of commitments to inclusive education at all levels. 

By mobilising civil society around the issues of equitable access to the training opportunities offered in Benin's agricultural colleges, education stakeholders, and the national and international community can be mobilised too and generate a strong citizen movement that can lead the government to take measures to promote equitable access for girls, accountability, and the implementation of commitments to inclusive education. 

Before receiving a full grant, APRETECTRA participated in the Year Zero process of OC2. Year Zero is part of the Education Out Loud learning agenda and functions as a developmental pathway for the candidates. Read more about it here.