Senegal is among the most stable and promising countries in West Africa for economic expansion. Over the past five years, Senegal has experienced a strong period of sustained economic growth. Despite this progress, the country faces huge untapped agricultural potential. Feed the Future programs in Senegal prioritize programs that integrate nutrition across agricultural programs and across value chains to improve nutritional outcomes. Our effort also promote trade and market access, support small and medium-sized agricultural enterprises, and enable communities to take charge of their own food security.
Feed the Future activities played a pivotal role in transformation of the rice sector in Senegal. Rice production increases were largely driven by adoption of new technologies and institutional support services such as crop insurance, climate information services, improved certified seeds, contract farming, and new credit systems. In the north, farmers added a second irrigated cropping cycle, while farmers in the south who rely on rain-fed rice production increased their productivity. Irrigated rice production of Feed the Future beneficiaries reached 161,343 metric tons in FY17, almost double from 97,220 metric tons in FY14.
Feed the Future facilitated access to $34.5 million in loans in 2017 through contract farming and integrated finance agreements between farmers, wholesalers, millers and finance institutions. Feed the Future also supported new lease financing models in concert with the Government of Senegal’s efforts to expand the use of farm equipment for land preparation and harvesting. Together, these efforts stabilized market prices, reduced loan defaults and paved the way for transformation in irrigated rice in the north and rain-fed rice in the south.
When Feed the Future first began work in Senegal, populations in eastern Senegal were generally isolated from markets, services, and economic opportunities and were highly dependent on rainfed agriculture and external humanitarian assistance. Through efforts that integrate both nutrition and agriculture, remote areas are now better connected to markets. This model enables local populations to partner with local governments to design and implement programs that support Senegal’s journey to self-reliance.
Programs integrate nutrition at every point of the agricultural value chain and provide long-term sustainability to communities by empowering them to become active participants in successful agricultural businesses. Working groups oversee services provided to the nearly 6,000 Debbo Galle women’s groups created through the program, such as agriculture and nutrition training, livestock programs, micro and market gardening, and savings and lending groups.
The integrated approach also strengthened a network of nearly 1,000 community-based service providers who sold $6.6 million worth of goods and services for improving agricultural production and nutrition. Available data on nutrition-led agriculture suggests that the model increases resilience, decreases poverty, and improves dietary quality and nutritional outcomes in young children.
These results reflect information from U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Peace Corps, Millennium Challenge Corporation, U.S. African Development Foundation, and U.S. Department of the Treasury (through the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program) reported into Feed the Future’s central monitoring system for fiscal year 2017 (FY17). For more information on the indicators above, please view the Feed the Future Indicator Handbook. All dollar amounts are listed in U.S. dollars.
Feed the Future believes that the best development solutions are the ones that continuously empower others to get in the game and carry the work forward. The Government of Senegal’s growing investment in agriculture (surpassing the goal of 10 percent of annual public spending since 2014) has opened the door for progress and serves as a great example of country commitment to building self-reliance.
In 2009, the country finalized its Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program Investment Plan, setting a long-term vision for agricultural development as the primary driver of economic growth. The coordination of this plan is housed in the Office of the Prime Minister, further emphasizing Senegal’s desire to elevate agriculture’s economic and food security profile. The government also signed a New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition Cooperation Framework in November 2013, paving the way for increased investment in the agriculture sector.
In Senegal, Feed the Future supports the government’s plans to increase food security and agricultural growth and integrates both poverty reduction and improved nutrition into its strategy. Senegal is characterized by moderate but chronic undernutrition, where anemia and the “hidden hunger” of micronutrient deficiencies feature prominently. Although Senegal has one of the lowest stunting rates in West Africa, the condition persists as an underlying factor in Senegal’s high maternal mortality rates and among children under five years old.
Feed the Future supports the following programs, partnerships and organizations in Senegal.
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