Benin

THE SUB-SAHARAN nation of Benin holds the distinction of being the first African nation to successfully move from a military dictatorship to a democracy. With an average annual income of $380, 37 percent of the population live in poverty, and 22.9 percent of all children under the age of 5 are malnourished. Approximately 37 percent of the population lack access to improved water sources, and 23 percent lack access to improved sanitation.

Poverty has flourished in Benin because development has been limited, and the Beninese economy is heavily dependent on subsistence agriculture, cotton production, and regional trade. Because many of its exports have been banned by neighboring Nigeria, smuggling and other criminal activity have increased along their common border. Efforts are under way to diversify the economy by emphasizing tourism and technology and promoting foreign investment. New privatization policies are also expected to enhance the shaky economy.

In 2005, Benin's population was estimated at 7,460,025. This population is constantly threatened by low life expectancy coupled with high infant mortality and HIV/AIDS rates. The median Beninese age is 16.56 years, with a life expectancy of only 50.51 years. Some 46.5 percent of Benin's population are under the age of 14 and only 2.3 percent are over the age of 65. Almost half of the population (45.7 percent) is at risk of dying before the age of 40.

Between 1990 and 2000, the number of malnourished Beninese increased by six percent. To deal with this problem, the Sasakawa Africa Association and the Carter Center joined with the Beninese Ministry of Agriculture to increase the food supply, assisting some 100,000 farmers in gaining knowledge of new agricultural technology designed to increase production of velvet beans, quality protein maize, and rice. Even though [Page 77]the food supply has increased, general health continues to be threatened by a lack of access to potable water.

Other health concerns include the very high risk of developing food- and waterborne diseases such as bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever. In certain areas, the risk of contracting malaria and yellow fever is also high. Incidences of meningococcal meningitis are common. Before 1993 when the Carter Center began working with health officials and local communities to eradicate Guinea worm disease, which is caused by infected water, thousands of new cases were reported each year. By 2003, only 30 cases were reported. Government and health officials have also become increasingly concerned about the rising number of people with HIV/AIDS: in 2003, it was estimated that 68,000 people had contracted the disease, and an additional 5,800 had died from the disease.

Beninese children are particularly vulnerable to the extreme poverty, and the infant mortality rate is 85 deaths for every 1,000 live births. Male infants are more likely to die than females. The Beninese government has worked with international organizations to increase rates of childhood immunization to cut down on rates of communicable diseases. In 2003, 83 percent of all children aged 12 to 23 months had been immunized for measles, and immunizations for DPT3 rose to 88 percent. Among infants, immunization rates for DPT, measles, and tuberculosis increased slightly since 1990, but immunizations for polio decreased by nine percent during that period.

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