PLACE: Governorate of Thies, Municipality of Keur Moussa, Villages of Keur Yakham, Yade, Guer, Sagnafyl, Niakhip, Touly and HLM Tamba
DURATION: 36 + 4 months
APPLICANT: ASeS – Farmers Solidarity and Development, ARCS, PIN S.c.r.l., AOI, Bloom Project
LOCAL PARTNERS: Green Senegal, Institut Sénégalais de Recherche Agricole (ISRA), JEF, ARCS, AOI, Glocal Impact Network, Polo Universitario Città di Prato (PIN)
The project aims to increase the food security and income of small farmers by developing the agro-industrial chain in the Thiès region. Small producers in Thiès suffer from the following problems: lack of access to water, low skills in fruit and vegetable production, and low quality of inputs. This leads to low productivity of cultivated areas and low production and means that agriculture is not an income-generating or food-securing activity for small-scale producers.
Abandonment or underutilization of land and malnutrition are the most visible effects of this situation. The project aims to respond to the above-mentioned problems by improving the production techniques of small farmers and developing the agro-industrial chain, mainly the sale and dissemination of innovative inputs and the processing of fruit and vegetable products and their marketing. The rationale is that increased fruit and vegetable production generated by improved and innovative techniques contributes to the achievement of food security for producers dedicated to self-consumption and constitutes increased income for those dedicated to marketing them. The latter will be able to consistently sell the products to companies capable of processing and marketing them. Increased production will be achieved through training initiatives on agricultural techniques, involving 1,200 small producers, use and production of improved seeds, and adoption of innovations in agriculture such as: management among multiple small producers of integrated well/solar panel/pump systems and drip irrigation and/or adoption of “Agritube” systems that allow higher production yields with considerable water savings. The project aims to install 6 integrated systems in community lands of 6 villages and 18 “Agritube” systems (3 for each village). These actions will mainly serve to show small producers how they work and perform. Their dissemination will be promoted through a revolving fund managed by project partners and accessed by small producers to finance necessary production improvements. At least 300 small producers are expected to access the revolving fund for this purpose. To develop the agribusiness supply chain, the project will work closely with the Ker Moussa Women Producers and Processors Network of which 65 women are members. The following enterprises are planned to be developed for the development of the agro-industrial supply chain: an enterprise to process fruits vegetables and grains, an enterprise to produce and install “Agritube” systems, and an enterprise to install integrated pump/solar panel/drip systems. Just as with innovations in agriculture, the establishment of enterprises will also be financed with the revolving fund in a logic of ownership and takeover by the beneficiaries.
ASES-Agriculturists Solidarity and Development, which has expertise in the field of agriculture has involved other functional parties in the partnership to achieve the project’s goals. In Italy, PIN S.c.r.l. and its Yunus Social Business Centre University of Florence, which has experience in the start-up and management of social enterprises, ARCS which has experience in renewable energy and networking best practices, Bloom Project innovative start-up with a social vocation that proposes innovative low-water agricultural production systems AOI, for institutional event in Italy.
All the Italian individuals involved in the partnership work or have worked in Senegal. At the local level the partners are: Green Senegal which has experience in agriculture, ISRA -Institut Sénégalais de Recherches Agricoles expert in seeds and agricultural techniques, Association Jef experts in local animation.
