Agroecological market gardening: Benin’s climate-resilient farming solution

OUÈDO AHOUANSSODJA, Benin — It was a cool, quiet morning in March 2025 when we visited the lush green Agro-Eco farm, and a dozen young people were already hard at work. Their voices carried across the fields as they called out to one another. Surrounded by groves of palms and other trees and rows of pineapple, the Agro-Eco Farm covers 2.5 hectares (6.2 acres), in the village of Ouèdo Ahouanssodja, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the administrative capital, Cotonou. Launched in December 2022, Agro-Eco’s farmers mostly grow traditional vegetables such as African eggplant (Solanum macrocarpon), bitter leaf (Vernonia amygdalina) and crincrin (Corchorus olitorius). In response to growing demand, they have also added crops like lettuce, cucumbers and carrots. “We’re a youth cooperative. We g