UNCDF in Benin

Supporting local production in the school feeding programme

UNCDF, in partnership with the World Food Programme and the Government of Benin, supports local suppliers participating in the national school feeding programme. To strengthen access to finance for these businesses, UNCDF provided a $150,000 portfolio guarantee to ALIDÉ, a local financial institution, enabling it to extend credit to MSMEs and cooperatives supplying the programme. The financing supports enterprises in expanding operations, meeting quality and delivery standards, and creating jobs within their communities.

Building on UNCDF’s support, ALIDÉ subsequently secured $1.5 million from the BUILD Fund to further finance MSMEs and cooperatives, including those involved in the school feeding programme. This has opened opportunities to scale up the initiative through a proposed $5 million portfolio guarantee focused on strengthening a green home-grown school feeding programme.

Advancing locally led adaptation through performance-based grants

UNCDF, through the LoCAL Facility and in partnership with the National Fund for Environment and Climate (FNEC), channels finance to local governments for locally led climate adaptation through Performance-Based Climate Resilience Grants (PBCRGs). Supported by the European Union, the Government of Denmark, and the Adaptation Climate Change Fund of the African Development Bank, the initiative delivered more than five cycles of PBCRGs across nine municipalities in Benin.

Through this work, the country’s updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), its national climate action plan under the Paris Agreement, has recognized the PBCRG mechanism as a key instrument for bridging the climate adaptation financing gap. Furthermore, with the support of UNCDF, Benin achieved direct access to financing from the Green Climate Fund, catalyzing $10 million to expand the model to 25 municipalities. The country’s experience further informed the development of the International Organization for Standardization 14093 standard, an international framework providing guidance on financing climate adaptation and resilience initiatives.

As of December 2024, 24 locally led investments had been delivered, focusing on water-related infrastructure and livelihoods support.

Supporting youth economic empowerment

In partnership with United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), UNCDF is providing a de-risking mechanism through a portfolio guarantee to two financial service providers to encourage lending to youth and youth-led MSMEs across four regions in Benin: Alibori, Atacora, Borgou, and Atlantique.

The initiative is expected to support access to finance for 800 MSMEs while contributing to the creation of at least 1,600 jobs, including 640 for women.

Across these initiatives, UNCDF continues to deploy innovative finance solutions to drive sustainable development and economic resilience in Benin.