Benin

The first-season maize harvest is currently underway in the southern parts of the country, with average prospects supported by generally favourable, near-average cumulative rainfall during crop development. Conversely, well below-average crop biomass conditions are observed in the northern unimodal areas, where the planting of coarse grains and rice was finalized in July. More specifically, in Borgou province, close to 75% of the active crop area is affected by a greenness anomaly. The provinces of Alibori, Atakora, and Donga are also impacted, albeit to a lesser extent, with approximately 40% to 50% of their active crop areas showing signs of vegetation stress. Rangeland conditions are similarly poor across these northern departments; Borgou is the most severely affected, with around 70% of its rangeland area compromised, followed by Alibori, Atakora, and Donga at 30% to 40%. Persistent insecurity appears to be a key driver of these poor crop and rangeland conditions in the north. According to the WFP (Benin Country Brief, August 2026), the resurgence of armed incidents linked to the Sahel crisis continues to worsen the humanitarian situation in Benin, particularly in the Atacora, Alibori, and Borgou departments, which are hosting internally displaced persons alongside refugees and asylum seekers from Burkina Faso, Niger, Togo, and Nigeria. Looking ahead, the Copernicus C3S Multimodel seasonal rainfall forecast for September 2026 points to average conditions across most parts of the country, except for the southern region, where drier-than-average conditions are expected.