GANVIE: A Collective Peace On Water!

Ganvie, meaning: 'the collectivity of those who found peace at last' is a lake village in Benin, lying on Lake Nokoué, near Cotonou, the political capital of Benin republic in west Africa. The village has a population of  about 30,000, contains around 3,000 stilted buildings with beautiful structures and is probably the largest lake village in Africa!

The stilted village of Ganvié Settled by the Tofinou people in the sixteenth Century,is an atmospheric setting of thatched huts, balanced precariously on wooden stilts, where daily life, in all its various walks, takes place on or near the water.

The meaning of this historical village on water, north of cotonou, is a poignant reminder of the historical events that brought the village into existence.  In the 17th Century, the Kingdom of Abomeh was waging war against neighbouring tribes, on a mission to capture prisoners of war to supply the transatlantic slave trade.  The chief of this tribe conceived an ingenious plan to shelter his people in the middle of lake Nokoue where enemies and slavers could not capture them.  From rafts and canoes, a village system on water emerged, including markets, and today schools, restaurants, churches, and local clinics! 

The people in this unique village live exclusively from fishing along with a little tourism, having been included in a waiting list of UNESCO world Heritage centre in 2006, use pirogues (canoes) and have a system of underwater plantings that form fences to trap and breed fish.

Today, villagers face stark challenges of providing social and educational opportunities to their growing population!