The St. Camille mental health center of Bohicon in Benin assists individuals with mental disorders throughout the different phases of their rehabilitation path with the ultimate goal of obtaining their full recovery and reintegration in the community of origin.
To this extent, the project “Agriculture: in support of tomorrow” has been designed in collaboration with and to the benefit of the patients of the center and aims at supporting a program of social reintegration through professional training in agricultural development.
This initiative started in 2008 and offers a unique opportunity to equip the people of the Bohicon center with the necessary skills and applied techniques deemed necessary elements of a process of emancipation toward the attainment of economic self sufficiency.
At the same time, the project aims at improving the quality of life and the respect of fundamental rights for the mentally challenged individuals of Benin.
The Bohicon center is located in an area of high economic potential on the crossroad trade between Benin, Niger, Togo and Burkina Faso.
This favorable location bears enough economic opportunities that, if properly exploited, could grant the economic self sufficiency for the patients and the personnel of the center.
In order to achieve this goal, cultivation of oil palms, fruits and vegetables has been put in place and produced the first harvest while the breeding of barnyard remains a promising new domain of intervention currently under development.
The project has four axis of intervention:
The second year, the initiative will see an extension of the cultivation area and the start up of the first attempts to trade the agricultural products on the local market.