Assessing GEF support in Benin sheds light on how global environmental commitments can be advanced in contexts of constrained national capacity.

Benin has received GEF support since 1991, with projects spanning all focal areas, and was selected for country portfolio evaluation because of its status as one of the world’s least developed countries and its advanced work on the National Capacity Self-Assessment. The evaluation reviewed 13 national and 5 regional projects from 1991–2007 through document analysis, interviews, workshops, and site visits.

It finds that GEF support has been relevant to national environmental and development priorities, contributing to Agenda 21 and the Environmental Action Plan, and generating lasting global benefits such as carbon sequestration and species recovery in the Pendjari Reserve. Village-based co-management models introduced by GEF projects have proven sustainable and replicable.

However, weak institutional and financial capacities constrain Benin’s ability to implement global conventions, while the project cycle is lengthy and difficult to navigate.

Coordination has weakened since the lapse of COCAFEM, and limited proposal development capacity hinders access to resources. The evaluation recommends strengthening focal point coordination, building project design capacity, streamlining procedures for LDCs, fostering partnerships for convention implementation, and consolidating co-management models to sustain results.