A new rural development program is set to improve national food and nutrition security and smallholder farmers’ resilience to external shocks such as global price volatility, trade restrictions and inflation, at a time when the country’s dependence on food imports has increased overall.
The financial agreement to fund the Food System Resilience Program (FSRP) was signed recently by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Government of Senegal, for a total cost of €27.8 million.
The program aims to reach 600,000 participants including small-scale producers and processors, members of producer organizations and micro-small and medium-sized agricultural enterprises. The agricultural sector in Senegal supports 62 per cent of the rural population and employs more than 38 per cent of the total workforce.
“The FSRP is a holistic programme that addresses all the dimensions of resilience to external shocks and the various aspects of food insecurity, agricultural production, research, commercialization, public policy, and financing. This is an important project for the government of Senegal because by addressing the different dimensions it targets the underlying causes of the food crises, helping to prevent food insecurity on a regional scale,’’ said Matteo Marchisio, IFAD Country Director, Senegal.
“IFAD’s financing will specifically focus on enhancing national food and nutrition security, and the resilience of smallholder farmers. Particularly, IFAD’s contribution will aim to strengthen the producers’ organizations capacities to adopt climate-smart and agroecological practices and technologies,’’ he added.
The aim of the FSRP is to strengthen the resilience of food systems, improve the sustainability and adaptability of the productive base of food systems and facilitate the integration of the food market in the region. The project will be implemented nationwide but mainly focuses on the western region, the Niayes region and the southern region of Senegal.
Senegal’s economy is based mainly on agriculture, but despite the potential to replace imports with local production, the country remains a net importer of food products due to population growth and urbanization.
The programme is in line with the three strategic objectives of the Country Strategic Opportunities Programme (COSOP) 2019-2024: (i) to sustainably increase the production, productivity and profitability of family farms within modernized value chains; (ii) strengthen the professional capacities of actors in the value chains, including farmers’ organizations, small rural enterprises and microenterprises; and (iii) strengthen national and subregional partnerships for the scaling-up of good practices and the implementation of pro-poor policies in rural areas.
FSRP directly contributes to Sustainable Development Goal SDG1 (ending poverty); SDG2 (zero hunger); SDG5 (gender equality); SDG8 (promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment, and decent work for all); SDG12 (responsible consumption and production); SDG13 (climate action); and SDG17 (partnerships for the goals).
From 1979 to the present, IFAD has contributed financing 22 rural development programmes and projects in Senegal for a total investment of US$1,378million, of which US$397 million was provided by IFAD. These projects and programmes have directly benefited 667,643 rural households.