Woman leader of the rural environment in the town of Kétou 158 km from Cotonou, Mrs. Evelyne OMONLADE is a native of Idigny in the south-east of BENIN. In her forties, she is married and the mother of 4 children. For 20 years, she has been working in the cashew sector, which she joined after taking her steps in the business of buying and reselling various items.  Very active and very listened to in the agricultural environment in Kétou, Evelyne is at the forefront of actions promoting women's access to land. Representative of rural women from Benin at the ECOWAS Conference in Abudja in 2018, she was chosen and delegated by WANEP and OSFAM to validly discuss the involvement of women in agriculture in the West African sub-region and especially in Benin.
In the same vein, she also participated in April 2019 in Adis Ababa (Ethiopia) in the conference on the accessibility of women to the land. Owner of a 3 hectares cashew plantation, she produced 450 kg of cashew nuts per season. From 2017, she followed the BeninCajù training courses on good practices and good production techniques. Currently, she has a production of 1200 kg of cashew nuts per year.
"BeninCajù is a very good project which has strengthened my knowledge and my skills in cashew production. Since I applied the techniques taught, my seasonal production has increased by 166% going from 450 Kg before BeninCajù to 1200Kg in 2 years with BeninCajù. By 2022 in 3 years, I will fight to reach more than 2000 Kg "Evelyne OMONLADE.
Her leadership, her determination and her commitment not only for the cause of women but also for the cashew sector, motivated the support of BeninCajù, and that of the actors of the sector, for her election as President of the Supervisory Board of the National Federation of Cashew Producers of Benin (FENAPAB), which ensures compliance with the internal regulations and statutes, then the management of cooperatives. This corroborates the multiple actions implemented by the BeninCajù project.  
"It is an honor and a pride for me, this magnificent election. I hope this feat does not stop with me. I urge the women of the commune of Kétou to redouble their efforts for the development of the sector." Evelyne OMONLADE.
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A native of northern BENIN, Mrs. Sahadatou ATTA KAKAYATCHI, in her fifties, began and completed her entire educational career in Parakou at the Primary School "Abdoulaye Issa", then at CEG 1 "Hubert MAGA". She embarked on her career with the Forest Resource Restoration Project (PRRF) funded by the government of Germany where she spent several years before joining the cashew sector. Married and mother of three, Sahadatou owns five 7.5-hectare cashew plantations in Pénessoulou in the commune of Bassila, 372 km from cotonou in northern Benin. Entering the production of cashew since 1998, and previously Chef district, this devoted mother manages in the alternative, her restaurant, her soap trade and carries out social works in favor of the orphans of her district.
Her bravery and the support of BeninCajù, accompanied by the support of actors in the sector, contributed to her brilliant election as head of the Board of Directors of the National Federation of Cashew Producers of Benin (FENAPAB). Indeed, having included in its priorities from the year 2019, activities for the awareness of actors with a view to better taking gender into account in the different links of production, the BeninCajù project strongly campaigned upstream by advocacy with FENAPAB for the amendment of texts in favor of greater gender mainstreaming. Thus, BeninCajù supported downstream, the process of renewal of the management bodies of FENAPAB which ended on September 23, 2019 with the election at its head of Mrs. Sahadatou ATTA KAKAYATCHI as Chairwoman of the Board of Directors.
«The success of my mandate, I urge women to fight harder for a significant boom in the sector. I request the support of the agricultural authorities of the APRM for the achievement of our common objectives, since cashew is the 2nd export culture of Benin and better, one of the flagship sectors of Bénin Government's Action Plan »  Sahadatou ATTA KAKAYATCHI
In addition, Sahadatou has recorded a significant growth in her performance since she worked with BeninCajù.
 «Before BeninCajù, I worked in my plantations simply by reforesting in an archaic manner, pell-mell, without picketing; and I produced 300kg of cashews per season. With BeninCajù from 2017, I acquired notions on how to plant (soil preparation, picketing, hole making, respecting the number of centimeters, planting grafted plants), which favored an increase in the quantity of cashew nuts produced to 500 kg in 2019 on my 7 hectares. My income has therefore increased by 67% in 2 years, which allows me to support my husband and take better care of my family. At this pace, I plan to acquire new land in order to extend my production to 1000 kg on 15 hectares by 2022 in 3 years. »Sahadatou ATTA KAKAYATCHI
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​The processing nuts component of the BeninCajù project deals, among other things, with the marketing of cashew produced in Benin as well as connecting foreign traders with cashew processing factories in Benin. It is by the springboard of this prerogative that the Lebanese Company Souheil Fakhran Foods S.A.L formerly known as Haj Souheil Fakhran Trading was canvassed to Benin. It is a wholesale business that imports, exports and distributes raw materials for oriental sweets, foreign pastries (baked confectionery), roast products, dates and many other catering needs. Covering Lebanon the Middle East and part of Europe, SFF has been a leader in providing the right product with optimal service.
They stayed in Benin from October 12 to 15, 2019 in order to:
- Visit cashew processing factories
- organize B to B meetings with local processors
- Identify the country's potential in terms of investment in the cashew value chain.
Souheil Fakhran Foods S.A.L also consulted the authorities of the BeninCajù project for an effective contact and solid follow-up with a view to providing an environment for the first negotiations carried out in the field.

The BeniBiz project sets up for each cohort of entrepreneurs supported (training and coaching), a cash reward mechanism consisting of awarding around 50 Entrepreneurs/cohort, including 35 from component 1 (Micros, Small and Medium Enterprises) and 16 from component 2 (Small and Medium Enterprises). This award is a non-repayable grant awarded to the best MSMEs and SMEs who have recorded excellent performance in the adoption of management practices at the end of the BeniBiz support program, for the quality of the implementation of the skills acquired during training and the exemplary of the entrepreneur. The amount of the reward varies from 500,000 to 1,000,000 FCFA for MSMEs and 2,000,000 FCFA for SMEs. The companies eligible for this award are those admitted to aftercare (more in-depth coaching after the training and coaching period). The basic criterias for the awarding are as follows:
1) Quality / Management tools: good keeping of the cash journal, regularity in the establishment of the profit and loss account, relevance of the decisions taken on the basis of the company's figures (financial planning), existence of an operational bank account different from the personal account of the entrepreneur.
2) Financial Performance: steady growth in turnover, positive net results over the support period;
3) Planning the growth of the company: planning objectives, existence of a relevant growth plan, existence of a strategy to finance growth, etc..... 
4) Marketing Strategy: existence of a marketing plan, regular updating of the marketing strategy; continuous improvement of the customer experience;
5) Quality of the entrepreneur: control of his sales pitch, transmission of financial data; commitments to implement the growth plan even in the absence of external funding.

During the October 2019 month, the Business Advisors of the BeniBiz project are therefore issuing checks to entrepreneurs of cohort 1, in the 11 operations departments of the project. These funds will allow beneficiaries to further increase their business!
See some pictures below!