Benin: a shared diagnosis to unlock horticultural access to EU markets

In brief

• On 4 May 2026, a feedback session on the study of bottlenecks in Benin’s horticultural sector brought together 37 participants from the public and private sectors.
• Framework: Trade Capacity Building Programme (PRCC), implemented by COLEAD with the support of AFD.
• Bottlenecks identified: access to finance, infrastructure, sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) compliance, value chain organisation.
• Central issue raised: the lack of coordination between public and private actors, illustrated by the contribution from ABSSA.
• Next step: co-creating an action plan and a structured public-private dialogue to remove these export barriers for good.

A participatory approach for a shared diagnosis

The session presented the main bottlenecks identified in Benin’s horticultural sector — access to finance, infrastructure, sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) compliance, value chain organisation — shared the first proposed lines of action, and opened a constructive exchange with stakeholders. Their contributions will be incorporated into the finalised study, which will be shared shortly with all stakeholders.

Giving the floor to stakeholders: a need for structured dialogue

Among the notable contributions, that of Gbodja Hugues Assongba, Director of Control Policies and Programmes at the Benin Food Safety Agency (ABSSA), highlighted a major structural issue: “A weakness I would like to raise concerns the lack of collaboration and cooperation between operators and the authorities responsible for food safety and the phytosanitary authority. This is why such a platform would be welcome.” He noted that the competent authorities are generally not informed of the private certification steps undertaken by companies, and are often called upon only when non-conformities have to be managed — a reactive rather than preventive role. This is a direct illustration of one of the bottlenecks identified by the study: the lack of public-private coordination, which weakens competitiveness and complicates access to export markets.

Significant media coverage

The session drew strong interest from Agratime, a leading Beninese agricultural media outlet, which published a detailed article on the study’s findings and the sector’s prospects.

Towards a structured public-private dialogue

Beyond the presentation of findings, the session marks a step towards structured dialogue between public and private actors. The aim is to co-create an action plan grounded in the identified priorities and owned by the actors themselves, in order to strengthen coordination and information flows, and to remove, on a lasting basis, the barriers to the sector’s development and to export market access. By facilitating this shared diagnosis, COLEAD contributes to strengthening the competitiveness of Benin’s horticultural sector.

To go further

The detailed article published by Agratime is available here:

Agratime

The final version of the study will be shared with stakeholders shortly.

This activity is supported by the PRCC (Trade Capacity Building Programme), implemented by COLEAD, with financial support from the French Republic through the French Development Agency (AFD). This communication has been produced with the financial support of AFD. Its content is the sole responsibility of COLEAD and can in no way be taken to reflect the position of AFD.