Food Security Support Project in Louga, Matam and Kaffrine Regions (PASA/Lou-Ma-Kaf)

About the Project

Senegal remains one of the poorest countries in the world and is ranked 162 out of 187 countries on the Human Development Index. Although contributing only about 18% of the GDP, the agricultural sector employs more than 50% of the workforce. Senegal continues to rely on rain-fed agriculture, with only 5% of the land irrigated, but subsistence rain-fed agriculture in a semi-arid zone is highly vulnerable to drought, soil degradation, and to the effects of climate change. Less than 2% of cultivated areas are irrigated, despite huge potential in surface and run-off water. 

PASA-Lou/Ma/Kaf works to improve food security, rural incomes, and resilience to climate change among three weather hazard-prone regions with nearly 2 million inhabitants and more than 3 million ruminants. Through access to water and sustainable inputs, land tenure security, and improved soil fertility, the project improves small-scale producers’, women’s, and farmers’ organizations’ access to a wide range of agricultural and livestock infrastructure. These include drip irrigation through boreholes and market gardens, mini-boreholes and wells, lowland development for rice and horticultural farming developed through the sills and anti-salt dams, and constructed or rehabilitated livestock boreholes equipped with drinking troughs. The project also strengthens mechanisms for extension services, supports advisory services in developed sites, supports the creation of jobs for youth, organizes producers (i.e. farmers and breeders), and processes and markets produce.