Agricultural Policies and Institutional Framework
Senegal's agricultural policies are historically characterized by the following key features: the government agricultural support system is mainly based on cash crops that have reliable markets; agricultural research has significantly contributed in maintaining productivity despite irregular rainfall and poor soils; liberalization of the market of agricultural produce in early 1990 has improved the efficiency of the cereal market; however, the impact of the liberalization has been limited because peanuts still dominate the market; integrated extension, input distribution, credit, and marketing support systems contribute in boosting productivity, especially cash crops and government promoted new crops; yet, support to farmers is costly and inefficient, particularly because the government responds more to political pressure than to economically motivated schemes; literacy programs are not devoted due attention in rural areas, and this limits the efficiency of extension and farm-level adoption of technologies, and therefore farmers capacity to respond to market dynamics. In response to increasing rural migration and clandestine emigration, the government has recently launched a new plan, called REVA ("Return to Agriculture"). The objective of this program is to develop agricultural infrastructure (construction of rural roads, rehabilitation of wells, and connection to electricity) and provide training and production tools and equipment to young and women farmers, especially former clandestine emigrants. The pilot phase of the program started in August 2006 and will end in December 2008, and during this period the government plans to implement 550 production sites. This plan is gaining increasing support from donors.
The institutional framework of the agricultural sector is organized through two main ministries. The Ministry of Agriculture, biofuels and Food Security which includes the Directorate of Agriculture responsible for the implementation of food grains and agro- industrial development policies and for overseeing the field based extension services; the Directorate of Horticulture which coordinates government support to the horticultural sector; the Directorate of Agricultural Census; and the Directorate of Plant Protection responsible for government pest control programs, including regulations, management of standards, and various field interventions. The second ministry involved in the agricultural sector is the Ministry of Animal Husbandry with several services coordinating government support to the livestock, dairy and poultry sub-sectors.
These services are completed by research and training institutions. ISRA (Senegalese Agricultural Research Institute) is the leading agricultural research institution and works on various issues related to crop and animal production, SPS and veterinary issues, fishing and forest products and rural socio-economy. Other major research institutions are ITA (Food Technology Institute), CDH (horticultural research) and WARDA (The Africa Rice Center). Senegal has also agricultural and veterinary colleges which provide most of human resources used in the sector. The main schools are ENSA (the Agricultural College), EISMV (The Inter-states Veterinary College), and CDH (The Horticultural Development Training Center).
Major donors involved in the agricultural sector in Senegal include FAO, USAID, USDA, the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the West African Development Bank, the French government, Peace Corps and several other local and international NGOs.
Read more about this topic: Agriculture In Senegal
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