I. PRESENTATION OF THE COUNTRY The Republic of Benin is located in the tropics between the equator and the Tropic of Cancer more precisely between the northern 6°30' and 12°30' parallels, on the one hand and the eastern 1° and 30°40' meridians, on the other hand. It is part of West Africa and is bounded by Niger in the north, Nigeria in the east, Atlantic Ocean in the south, Togo in the west and Burkina Faso in the northwest. The Republic of Benin stretches across 114 763 square kilometers1. 1.2- Benin’s landscape is little rough. It has an average altitude of 200 meters. Only the Atacora chain, in the north-west of the country is hilly, with an altitude that varies between 400 and 700 meters. In terms of hydrography, Benin is watered by numerous rivers belonging to three major basins: the Niger Basin, the Volta Basin and the coastal basin. Most of these rivers originate in the Atacora massif and supply the three basins. Located in the intertropical zone, Benin has a hot and humid climate. 1.3 Benin attained international sovereignty on August 1, 1960. It experienced changes in political regimes following a series of coups, the most notable of which was that of October 26, 1972 with the advent of a military regime based on the Marxist-Leninist ideology. Profiting from a conference of Living Forces of the Nation held from February 19 to 28 1990 in Cotonou, the Beninese opted sovereignly for a liberal democracy. Thus, since 11 December 1990, Benin has a new constitution that provides for a presidential regime and a national assembly elected by universal suffrage. Gradually, the country consolidates its democratic experience with, to its credit, the regular organization of presidential and legislative elections, the actual changeover of power, the separation between the legislative, executive and judicial powers, the progressive setting up of a legal and institutional framework conducive to the establishment of State of law and good governance. The Republic of Benin is a party to various international and regional and sub-regional organization. Benin is thus a member of the United Nations (UN). It is also a founding member of the Council of the Entente, the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU). 1.4 The administrative and territorial organization in the Republic of Benin is based on Law No. 97-028 of January 15, 1999. This law defines the new territorial subdivisions of the country. Benin is subdivided into 12 departments that are: Alibori, Atacora, Atlantic, Borgou, Hills, Couffo, Donga, Littoral, Mono, Ouémé, Plateau and Zou. The departments are subdivided into 77 communes, three of which have a special status: Cotonou, Porto Novo and Parakou. The 77 communes are subdivided into 546 districts comprising 4,386 villages and city neighborhoods, the village being the smallest administrative unit in a rural district in the same way as the city neighborhood in an urban district. The decentralization process for promoting grassroots democracy started in 2003 is continuing. 1.5 The Beninese economy is essentially characterized by a primary sector reduced to extensive agriculture, an embryonic secondary sector and a weak and extroverted tertiary sector. The economic activity remains dominated by agriculture, livestock and fisheries (49%), followed by trade (27%) and non-agricultural workers or artisans (17%). 1 RGPH4 2012