Senegal

Impact

• 62 PERCENT

• 30 PERCENT

Key Achievements

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.

Source

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.