Aware that food security for vulnerable populations in Senegal will also depend on better access to water, the African Development Bank (AfDB) is planning to allocate $20 million to the government of the West African country to strengthen agricultural water infrastructure. The funding was recently approved by the Bank's Board of Directors.
The $20 million in funding pledged by the African Development Bank (AfDB) will primarily be used to accelerate the implementation of the Post-Covid-19 Food and Nutritional Security Project (Presan-PC) currently underway in Senegal, the specific objective of which is to sustainably increase agricultural production and the incomes of small-scale producers, in particular by improving water supply. The grant was approved on 5 March 2024 in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, at the pan-African group’s Board of Directors meeting.
In order to improve water supply to the farms targeted by this project, the Senegalese government plans to build several agricultural water infrastructures with AfDB financing. These will include boreholes, pumping stations powered by solar energy, water retention structures, and lowland development works, which are basic structures such as contour dykes made of earth or asphalt.
Food availability for 310,000 people
The funds allocated by the pan-African financial institution will also be used to build drinking water supply systems to improve access for farmers, especially women and young people. The Presan-PC project was launched to consolidate and strengthen the actions of the food security support project (Pasa-LMK) in the Louga, Matam and Kaffrine regions of Senegal, with an extension into similar areas, namely the Matam region and the departments of Koumpentoum (Tambacounda region) and Nioro (Kaolack region).
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Approximately 31,000 households, or nearly 310,000 people, will benefit from the reinforcement of agricultural water infrastructures in these different regions, in particular by increasing harvests and farm incomes. The Presan-PC project is also supported by the Office chérifien des phosphates (OCP Group) to the tune of 4.57 million dollars. The initiative is also being matched by the Senegalese government ($1.29 million) and farms ($370,000).
Inès Magoum
