The Climate Smart Agriculture and Sustainable Value Chains in the Senegal River Valley project has been launched. This initiative, supported by South Korea, aims to develop sustainable agriculture in the face of climate change.
Senegal is committed to sustainable agriculture. This solution will be tested in the recently launched Climate Smart Agriculture and Sustainable Value Chains in the Senegal River Valley project. The initiative is being implemented in partnership with several Senegalese and Korean government agencies, including the Korean Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), the Senegalese Agricultural Research Institute (ISRA), as well as the Better World organisation and the Seoul-based Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI).
The recently launched project aims to increase rice and horticultural production in a global context marked by the war in Ukraine, which is curbing grain imports from Eastern Europe, and above all by climate change, which is affecting the entire Sahel region.
A $15 million investment
The Senegal River valley stretches from Guinea to the desert margins, covering at least 300,000 km2. The upper basin covers two-thirds of this area. In the middle valley on the borders of Mali, Mauritania and Senegal, downstream from Bakel, the Senegal River flows towards the Sahelian zone, a strip of low-lying land fertilised each year by the river’s flooding.
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This situation is conducive to the production of cereals and vegetables. As part of the Climate Smart Agriculture and Sustainable Value Chains in the Senegal River Valley project, GGGI Senegal will provide technical supervision and advice on the three outcome areas and support on scaling up impact to access green finance “through a clearly defined monitoring, evaluation, reporting and improvement plan, complemented by other smart agriculture projects on the ground”, says the organisation.
A project of the Emerging Green Senegal Plan
According to GGGI, the project will be implemented on 800 hectares. At least 1,000 farmers will be trained in smart farming practices. The project also includes the establishment of farmers’ centres, as well as the design and mobilisation of $15 million for services and “innovative grading tools”. According to the GGGI, the project will create green job opportunities for women and youth and support 20 agripreneurs and at least five start-ups.
Dakar has included this project in the framework of the Green Emerging Senegal Plan (PSE Vert), which aims to promote the green economy in order to ensure a balance between the development of economic activities and the protection of the environment, and to encourage the development of natural resources and biodiversity.
Jean Marie Takouleu
