Benin’s agriculture statistics combine a 1992 census baseline with recent estimates and development-program targets. Together, they show farm households, the importance of staple crops, changing market conditions, and the infrastructure planned to support agricultural modernization.
Table of contents
- Benin agriculture at a glance
- What the 1992 agricultural census measured
- Farm population and agricultural work
- Crop area and production in the 1992 census
- Recent cereal production, prices, and food security
- Agricultural investment and value-chain targets
- What the figures say about agriculture’s wider context
Benin agriculture at a glance
The figures below come from different measurement periods and should not be read as one continuous time series. The 1992 items are census or survey results, the 2024 cereal figure is an official estimate reported in 2025, and the project figures are targets or implementation milestones.
- The 1992 agricultural census recorded 408,020 agricultural holdings in Benin (Benin Agricultural Census 1992 – Main Results).
- The census farm population was 3,191,856 people (Benin Agricultural Census 1992 – Main Results).
- Rice covered 7,777 hectares and produced 14,021 metric tons in the 1992 census (Benin Agricultural Census 1992 – Main Results).
- Maize covered 480,221 hectares and produced 602,659 metric tons in the same census (Benin Agricultural Census 1992 – Main Results).
- Benin’s aggregate cereal production in 2024 was officially estimated at 2.9 million tonnes, about 24% above the previous five-year average (FAO GIEWS Country Brief, 27-May-2025).
- About 398,000 people were estimated to face acute food insecurity between March and May 2025 (FAO GIEWS Country Brief, 27-May-2025).
- By 2025, PACOFIDE had reached 592,512 beneficiaries, according to the World Bank’s Benin country page (Benin | World Bank Group).
What the 1992 agricultural census measured
The Benin Agricultural Census 1992 – Main Results provides a historical baseline with several layers of measurement. The survey was carried out from May 1992 to February 1993, so the census label refers to the agricultural census period rather than a single day.
The operation sampled 319 villages out of 3,191 villages and covered 1,595 holdings nationwide. Its field organization included 7 technical directors at headquarters, 12 departmental coordinators and supervisors, 23 supervisors in the field, and 82 field enumerators (Benin Agricultural Census 1992 – Main Results).
The census counted 408,020 agricultural holdings. Of the holders, 370,338 were male and 37,682 were female. These figures describe holders, while the farm-population figures below describe all people counted within the farm population, so the two groups should not be treated as interchangeable.
The 1992 survey’s value for current readers is its breadth. It connects people, holdings, age groups, agricultural work, crop area, and crop production in one historical measurement. It does not by itself establish present-day levels, and the figures should be labeled as 1992 census results whenever they are used.
Farm population and agricultural work
The 1992 farm population totaled 3,191,856 people. It included 1,559,572 males and 1,632,284 females (Benin Agricultural Census 1992 – Main Results).
The age distribution was recorded in four groups:
| Farm-population group | People counted | Measurement period |
|---|---|---|
| Under age 10 | 1,217,961 | 1992 census |
| Ages 10–14 | 419,305 | 1992 census |
| Ages 15–64 | 1,473,044 | 1992 census |
| Age 65 and over | 81,546 | 1992 census |
Source: Benin Agricultural Census 1992 – Main Results.
The census also counted 1,973,895 household members potentially engaged in agricultural work. Of these, 923,112 were male and 1,050,783 were female (Benin Agricultural Census 1992 – Main Results).
That distinction matters when reading the numbers. The farm population is a broad population measure, while potentially agricultural household members are a narrower work-related measure. The census results do not provide a modern labor-force series, so these historical counts should not be used as current employment estimates.
Crop area and production in the 1992 census
The 1992 crop results show a broad mix of staple, root, tuber, legume, and vegetable production. Maize had the largest reported area among the listed crops, while yams and cassava recorded the largest production totals among those same entries.
| Crop | Area | Production | Measurement period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maize | 480,221 hectares | 602,659 metric tons | 1992 census |
| Sorghum | 131,515 hectares | 106,522 metric tons | 1992 census |
| Cassava | 122,379 hectares | 1,036,024 metric tons | 1992 census |
| Yams | 100,156 hectares | 1,239,375 metric tons | 1992 census |
| Groundnuts | 87,450 hectares | 18,271 metric tons | 1992 census |
| Niebe | 81,811 hectares | 76,886 metric tons | 1992 census |
| Millet | 33,469 hectares | 14,072 metric tons | 1992 census |
Source: Benin Agricultural Census 1992 – Main Results.
The census recorded 7,777 hectares of rice and 14,021 metric tons of rice production. It recorded 6,772 hectares of sweet potatoes and 33,612 metric tons, as well as 5,974 hectares of Bambarra nut and 8,271 metric tons (Benin Agricultural Census 1992 – Main Results).
Vegetable figures included 11,085 hectares of tomatoes producing 55,692 metric tons, 9,294 hectares of pepper producing 10,589 metric tons, and 3,660 hectares of okra producing 7,749 metric tons (Benin Agricultural Census 1992 – Main Results).
These are historical crop-area and production observations from the 1992 census. They are useful for understanding the composition of the sector at that time, but the source does not provide a basis here for ranking current crops or calculating present-day yields.
Recent cereal production, prices, and food security
The FAO GIEWS Country Brief dated 27-May-2025 reported Benin’s aggregate cereal production for 2024 at an official estimate of 2.9 million tonnes. The brief said the 2024 cereal harvest was about 24% above the previous five-year average (FAO GIEWS Country Brief, 27-May-2025).
The same source described a distinct maize-price movement in 2024. Retail maize prices increased by 40% to 65% between January and April 2024, before the export ban. After the ban, prices declined by 30% to 40% through October 2024 (FAO GIEWS Country Brief, 27-May-2025).
Food-security figures refer to specific periods rather than a single annual total. About 398,000 people were estimated to face acute food insecurity between March and May 2025. In March 2025, about 8,800 people were internally displaced in Atakora and Alibori because of civil insecurity. For the June to August 2025 lean season, about 295,000 people, or 2% of the analyzed population, were expected to face acute food insecurity (FAO GIEWS Country Brief, 27-May-2025).
The wording is important: the 2024 cereal figure is an official estimate, the March–May 2025 food-insecurity figure is an estimate, and the June–August 2025 figure is an expectation for the lean season. These measurements describe different concepts and dates.
Agricultural investment and value-chain targets
The World Bank approved a $160 million credit for Benin’s agri-food value-chain project on June 2, 2020. The project targeted almost 10,000 hectares of pineapple, 135,000 hectares of aging cashew plantations for replacement or redevelopment, rehabilitation of 1,200 kilometers of roads, and maintenance of 4,200 kilometers of rural roads (Benin: The World Bank Approves $160 million for Agri-food Value Chain Competitiveness).
Additional-financing documentation revised several agricultural competitiveness targets. The direct-beneficiary target rose from 166,100, with an original target of 40% female, to 250,000 people. Milled rice output rose from 60,000 to 100,000 tons, cashew output from 2,200 to 15,000 tons, and pineapple juice output from 10,000 to 125,000 tons (Benin Agricultural Productivity and Diversification Project-additional financing).
Export and yield targets also changed:
- Cashew exports: 44,000 to 200,000 tons.
- Pineapple exports: 30,000 to 150,000 tons.
- Rice yield: 5.0 to 6.0 tons per hectare.
- Maize yield: 1.50 to 3.0 tons per hectare.
- Pineapple yield: 60 to 70 tons per hectare.
- Cashew yield: 0.70 to 0.80 tons per hectare.
- Fish yield: 6 to 7 tons per hectare per year.
Source: Benin Agricultural Productivity and Diversification Project-additional financing.
The revised program targets included 88,000 hectares with improved technology disseminated, up from 59,000 hectares. Small-scale irrigation and drainage targets rose from 4,500 to 6,950 hectares for rehabilitation and from 4,500 to 5,728 hectares for new area. The market-infrastructure target doubled from 100 to 200 structures (Benin Agricultural Productivity and Diversification Project-additional financing).
Product collection and storage targets also increased: cashew from 10,000 to 25,000 tons, maize from 10,000 to 50,000 tons, and rice from 20,000 to 40,000 tons. The inter-profession target rose from 2 to 4 organizations, while the agricultural-credit target rose from 10% to 15% of beneficiaries. The loan-repayment target increased from 90% to 95%, and MAEP monitoring-and-evaluation coverage from 75% to 100% (Benin Agricultural Productivity and Diversification Project-additional financing).
The agriculture-sector program budget-execution-ratio target was set at 90%, up from 70% (Benin Agricultural Productivity and Diversification Project-additional financing). These are program targets and revisions, not necessarily achieved production outcomes.
What the figures say about agriculture’s wider context
The World Bank’s 2024 country page described PACOFIDE as a $160 million project and said an additional $150 million was approved in June 2024. That financing supported 3,000 hectares for irrigated rice and vegetable production in northern Benin (Benin | World Bank Group).
By 2025, PACOFIDE had reached 592,512 beneficiaries (Benin | World Bank Group). The same World Bank country information said Benin had a population of 14.5 million in 2024, a fertility rate of 5.7 children per woman, and an unemployment rate of 2.4%. It also reported 72% underemployment among the labor force and said 90.1% of workers were employed in the informal sector in 2024 (Benin | World Bank Group).
The World Bank’s 2025 Benin page characterized the agriculture sector as continuing to grow in 2025, consistent with export-crop diversification and modernization efforts (Benin | World Bank Group). That description belongs to the 2025 country context; it should not be read as a quantified growth rate.
Taken together, the figures connect a long historical baseline with newer estimates and planned interventions. The 1992 census documents the people, holdings, crop areas, and output categories measured at that time. The FAO brief provides a 2024 cereal estimate and 2025 food-security indicators. World Bank project documents provide investment amounts, beneficiary counts, infrastructure plans, and revised production targets, each tied to its own date and program scope.