Sustainable in Senegal
Innovations in sustainability mark The Rodale Institute work in Senegal
Women’s farming groups, in particular, benefit from training and
micro-credit initiatives. Building on our long history in Senegal, we've produced a series of articles and profiles telling some of the story of sustainable farming in the country.

By Amadou Makhtar Diop, Technical Director/New Farm Senegal coordinator

Where we've been:

A rich slice of sustainability in Senegal:
The Rodale Institute® showed this American agriculture student the critical need for soil innovative soil saving practices in West Africa.

Soft and red, hard and black Getting up close and personal with local soils in Senegal’s Peanut Basin with farmers who are managing them sustainably

From dunghills to compost pits and back again – only better
How Senegalese farmers learned, practiced then radically adapted composting to fit their land, culture and settings.

Doudou Diallo, urban market gardener, Saint-Louis
Strong customer demand for his high-quality vegetables propels this intensive urban gardener to pursue organics even without a premium price.

Madame Sall: bissap juice and syrup entrepreneur, Dakar
Buying directly from farmers boosts the quality of her products and the consumer demand, but this home-scale beverage processor struggles to expand her place in the market.

Seydou Diémé: soil conservationist, Thiès
Water management is a key part of keeping farming viable for many communities in dryland areas of Senegal. With leadership and hard work a way forward is to build simple rock-lined ditches to slow runoff and restore viable farming areas.

Abderahmane Sow: agro-entrepreneur Belel, Matam region
Starting from scratch with curiosity and a knack for doing business, this new farmer wants to expand agricultural opportunity to help the next generation thrive on the fertile land along the inland Senegal River.

El-Hadji Hanne & Gora Ndiaye: regenerative ag extension & ornamental horticultural on the Petite Côte, Mbour
While university students in Dakar in the 80s, these two entrepreneurs became alarmed at the rate of pesticide use on the micro-farms. Today they work in a mix of endeavors to promote sustainable agriculture to interns from around the world.

Diabou Balde: An improved system of rice production, Manthiankaning, Kolda region
Intensive production pressure leaves little space for experiments, but improvements from increased spacing win respect for new method.

New interest in old crops, Tambacounda and Thies regions
Kekouta Camara of Touba Fall and Abdoulaye Niang of Keur Banda identify traditional crops that enhance biodiversity, reduce weather risk, extend crop rotations and attract high-value export buyers.

Fatou Kane, Ndeye Diop and Awa Mbaye: livestock fattening,Thiawène, Diourbel
Village women’s group pioneers and teaches how “kept” sheep and goats can improve soil, boost yields and provide strong income in dry Diourbel region.

Milk and yogurt production, Ourossogui, Matam
Fulani women learn holistic cooperative development and enterprise skills to generate value-added revenue, and to inspire other small-scale farmers in the region – including their daughters -- with options for economic development.

Khadidja Niakh: thriving with peppers, seeds and leaves in Koumpentoum, Tambacounda region
Training in organic agriculture helps woman develop family enterprise that features income streams from integrated and biodiverse micro-agroforestry kitchen garden.

 

The Thiawene farmers' focus group makes plans while shelling cowpeas, a leguminous cover crop. At left is Mme. Diagne Sarr, who directed the Vanderbilt project work for New Farm Senegal to build capacity within village women’s agricultural groups. Photo by Nathan McClintock

June 16, 2005. The Rodale Institute’s Senegal office – now known as New Farm Senegal -- has been developing, testing and promoting regenerative agriculture practices for small-scale farmers for 17 years. Staff members have trained farmers and demonstrated techniques to adapt these sustainable principles to Senegal’s widely differing agro-ecological zones – from desert in the north to tropics in the south.

The Rodale Institute works with these farmers to find success based on their individual and community needs and their agricultural context (soil type, organic matter availability, rainfall, local cropping systems, nutritional needs, market options and human resources).

Today we begin a series of stories giving the context of this work, a bit of background, then 10 profiles of innovative entrepreneurs (see sidebar for links to the stories). These individuals represent crop and livestock farmers and value-added food retailers who have been trained by New Farm Senegal directly, or are members of groups which collaborate with The Rodale Institute staff.

The opening story in the series is the first of three that set the stage for understanding agriculture in Senegal, and how The Rodale Institute has been involved in bringing a regenerative and community based perspective to it.

In recent years the program has emphasized women’s participation in development activities. In a three-year project funded by the Vanderbilt Foundation beginning in 2000, these regenerative strategies were applied to integrated crop-livestock operations operated by women in five villages in the Thiès and Diourbel regions.

The project included technical training, exchange visits, infrastructure development (such as improving irrigation systems and fencing), reforestation, and micro-finance entrepreneurship. The Rodale Institute women’s program succeeded because of our dedicated female staff, led by Mme. Diagne Sarr. She was formerly employed by the national Ministry of Women, Family, and Social Development.

The Institute’s New Farm Senegal program is exploring opportunities to continue research, demonstration, training and information outreach on regenerative agriculture for Senegal’s farmers. Organic farming appears to be a bright spot for value-added marketing if the infrastructure develops in a farmer-friendly way.

New Farm Senegal has a long history of positive collaborations with national and local government entities, national and international non-profit organizations and farmer groups.

 
   
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