Projects – individual commitment with a great impact
People who are committed to improving the lives of others help move society forward. The foundation supports them and their projects. In Benin, however, official permits required to establish a small business are expensive. They reduce the start-up capital of the initiators – funds that are urgently needed to implement their projects.
Investing in smaller projects is therefore worthwhile. Such initiatives contribute to a more balanced diet for the population of Koko, while creating local training opportunities and jobs. They also make forest conservation economically viable and support greater independence for women in the village. In addition, the restoration and construction of forest spirit monasteries, as well as the development of traditional healing centres, create spaces that help preserve botanical, cultural, and spiritual heritage.
Cosme Dansou’s poultry farm – a model for others
To help people achieve a more balanced diet, the foundation supported the establishment of a poultry farm for the production of meat and eggs. It also financed the purchase of a mill, since grinding grain for chicken feed only takes place once the grain for human consumption has been milled – and that can take time.
Cosme Dansou’s poultry farm continues to flourish even after several years. His 700 chickens are regularly inspected by a veterinarian. He is regarded not only as a skilled poultry farmer but also as one of the best beekeepers in the region. Although Cosme Dansou never attended school, he knows how to run a successful business. For example, he purchases chicks in such a way that the time of their slaughter coincides with a Christian or Muslim holiday, when demand is particularly high.
Cosme Dansou shares his knowledge with others. Sebastien Bio, a member of the Tobé landowning family, completed a six-month apprenticeship with him. Today Sebastien Bio keeps 500 chicks in his own poultry house. The two men continue to work closely together. Cosme’s mill also grinds the feed for Sebastien’s chickens.
The demand for eggs and chicken meat remains high. The eggs are sold, among other places, to the many new cafeterias in Koko and the surrounding villages. Chicken meat is also in demand because there are fewer and fewer wild animals to hunt. Cosme Dansou and Sebastien Bio are both supported in their work by their wives, and the children also lend a hand.
In recent years Sebastien Bio has further expanded his activities. Since 2022 he has been practising organic vegetable farming. At first he used the «hors sol» cultivation method, as his wife breeds goats that roam freely and eat anything green. Since 2023 his vegetable garden has been fenced in and is thriving. He uses manure from his animals to improve the quality of the soil.
An egg does not dance with a stone.
Small loans and savings scheme for women in Koko
On 8 March 2000, women from Koko and Karin Ostertag celebrated the International Women’s Rights Day together. On this occasion, the women of Koko expressed the wish to establish a small loan and saving system. Such a scheme was subsequently created and has existed ever since.
Women who participate in the foundation’s loan and saving scheme join the group «Ola Tobé» (thanks to Tobé). The group has been led from the beginning by Beatrice Donadje, who keeps careful records. Through her work she has ensured that all the women who benefit from the programme not only take out loans but also save money. In this way, they gradually gain greater independence and self-reliance.
To this day, this loan and saving scheme remains in demand – and it is the only one that still exists in the village. The Beninese state has repeatedly offered small loan programmes, but they lacked follow-up support and further development, which meant that they were not sustainable. Since the programme began, around thirty women from the group «Ola Tobé» have received loans. Today the group consists of twenty-one women. Some have moved away, others have passed away, and a few were excluded because they did not repay their instalments on the agreed date.
Many of the women have been able to expand their businesses thanks to the loans and the savings that resulted from them. For example, Henriette Akowe bought another sewing machine with her savings, while Marie Attounon built a new shop. Céline Koumoulou enlarged the storage space for her soya and maize trading business, and Beatrice Donadje invested in a second freezer for ice production. New businesses have also emerged through the programme: Denise Oreko opened a small bakery, Faustine Amabegnon produces peanut oil and peanut sticks, and Bilèyo Assogba produces soya cheese, which has become established in the village as an affordable and healthy substitute for meat. Other women trade in cosmetics and food products, or extract oil from palm kernels and soya beans. All these products are sold locally and strengthen the village economy.
One of the highlights of the year is 8 March. On this occasion, the women of «Ola Tobé» organise a vibrant village celebration. It is a day of pride, recognition, and shared success. The Foundation deliberately focuses its support on women. The results are clear: many participants have built a stable financial foundation, enabling them to invest in their children’s education and improve their families’ well-being.
A person’s worth is measured by the happiness they bring to others.
Construction of a traditional healing centre
A well-known healer in the region of Tobé/Koko had no accommodation for his patients. He therefore had to place them in surrounding huts, which made it difficult for him to monitor the course of their treatment properly. With the support of the Foundation, the construction of the healing centre has significantly improved the healer’s working conditions. The healer is regarded as a respected custodian of medicinal plant knowledge and traditional healing practices, and works closely with local hunters. Through this collaboration, he plays an important role in protecting rare plant and animal species – raising awareness among hunters and plant gatherers about the importance of conservation and encouraging more sustainable practices. At the same time, the healer shares with Karin Ostertag a rich body of stories and legends from the forest. These are being compiled into a reading book for young people, designed both to entertain and to inspire interest in preserving biodiversity.
The foundation has already built four such traditional healing centres for healers in the region. These centres are now also recognised by modern hospitals. In particular, bone fractures and snakebites are successfully treated there.
For female healers and grandmothers, the foundation supports the construction of enclosed backyard gardens. The beneficiaries first build the walls using clay, which are then reinforced with cement by the foundation. The healers then plant the medicinal plants they need within these courtyards.
Building on these gardens and the plants they host, the idea of creating a shared botanical garden for the wider community has emerged. The Foundation actively supports this initiative. The healers are organised into a state-recognised association, strengthening the preservation and transmission of knowledge related to medicinal plants. This collective approach offers these plants an additional chance of survival.The long-term vision is for every village to have its own botanical garden.
The foundation’s commitment to preserving medicinal plants has also led to new alliances with other sacred forests in Benin, further strengthening the network for the conservation of biodiversity.
Patience is a golden path where no footprint is lost.
Restoration of traditional monasteries of the forest spirits
In order for the forest spirits living in the protected forests to remain favourably disposed towards the foundation and to support the strengthening of other forests, the foundation restores traditional monasteries of the forest spirits in the Fon and Yoruba regions. Within their sacred walls, the plants used in rituals are also cultivated.
The forest spirits are meant to help protect the forests.
A word is like water: once spilled, it cannot be gathered again.
Construction of a monastery for the oracle priests in the south of the Bantè district
In Isako, in the south of the Bantè district, the foundation built a meeting hall for the oracle priests of the region in 2019. In this space they hold ceremonies, exchange ideas and consult the oracle. The foundation supports this project both to preserve local culture and to protect the forests. Each oracle priest is connected with a forest, as their initiations always take place in a sacred forest.
For more than 35 years, the foundation has linked traditional Yoruba culture with the modern world. The oracle priests are important messengers in this respect. Yoruba culture continues to live on today among people spread across Nigeria, Benin, Togo and Ghana. Regardless of whether they follow the Muslim or Christian faith, the oracle is consulted about forthcoming journeys or ventures, as well as about fortune, illness or death.
One pours a little water on the ground so that one may walk in freshness.
Construction of a monastery for the python deity in Ouidah in southern Benin
Part of the 4-hectare sacred forest Kpassè in the city of Ouidah is an open-air museum visited by many people from Benin as well as by visitors from around the world who wish to learn about the history of the slave trade at this very place.
Since 2023, part of the forest has been actively restored, protected, and maintained under the Foundation’s community forests programme, in close collaboration with the descendants of King Kpassè and local landowning families.
Immediately next to the Kpassè forest, the foundation built the monastery for the king’s python, which has now finally found its rightful place. The python represents the ancestors and the spirits of nature and is venerated in Ouidah within the Ouèda cultural tradition.
When the snake bites its tail, it symbolises the wheel of continuity.