Benin: Climate-resilient vegetable varieties thrive in local conditions

On 16 November 2023, the Dutch Ambassador in Benin, Mr Joris Jurriëns, visited the vegetable trials conducted in the SafeVeg project at Sèmè-Kpodji. The project “Safe locally-produced vegetables for West Africa’s consumers” (SafeVeg), funded by the European Union and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, is promoting various climate-resilient vegetable varieties. After the on-station trials, the trials were downscaled to farmers’ fields to test the performance of these varieties in local growing conditions in partnership with the Institut National des Recherches Agricoles du Benin (INRAB). More than 100 farmers received a range of improved vegetable (e.g., pepper, tomato, Amaranthus and okra) varieties to evaluate under their growing practices. More than 200 farmers from different regions – Sèmè-Kpodji, Dangbo, Aguégués, Athiémé, Bonou, Cotonou, Grand-Popo – were invited by the project team for a participatory varietal selection, during which they visited each trial ...