World Wide Extension Study

The Worldwide Extension Study WWES provided empirical data on the human and financial resources of agricultural extension and advisory systems worldwide. The programme ran from 2009-2012 and was funded by USAID and managed by IFPRI in partnership with FAO (along with DAAS and CIRAD) and IICA.

For a long time, agricultural extension in Senegal was a prerogative of the government in the absence of a viable private sector. Drastic changes in economic policies resulting from the introduction of Structural Adjustment Programs initiated by IMF in the 1980s lead to market liberalization and a decline in government intervention. Agricultural extension services were previously provided by the Ministry of Rural Development (MDR), the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) through their departments of agriculture and livestock respectively and numerous parastatal executing agencies (SAED, SODEFIDEX, SODEVA, SOMIVAC, and SODAGRI).

Extension Provider

Major Institutions Providing Extension/advisory Services

Public Sector

Senegal public sector is represented by the Ministere de l’Agriculture et de l’Elevage and the Ministere des Mines de l’Industrie de la Transformation Alimentaire des Produits Agricoles et des PME through their departments of agriculture and livestock respectively and numerous parastatal agencies, the University Cheik Anta Diop, and Ecole Inter-Etat des Sciences et Medecines Veterinaires. These institutions provide extension services through various departments and institutes some of which are listed below:

Public Extension Institutions

• Ministere de l’Agriculture et de l’Elevage - Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock
• Ministere des Mines de l’Industrie de la Transformation Alimentaire des Produits Agricoles et des PME

Public Research and Education Institutions

• Institut Senegalais de Recherche Agricole – ISRA. Crops, Livestock, Forestry, Fisheries
• Institut de Technologies Alimentaires – Food Technology Institute, Crops, Post-harvest
• Université Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD)
• Ecole nationale Superieure d”Agriculture – ENSA
  • Departement d’Economie et Sociologie Rurale
• Ecole Inter-Etats des Sciences et Médecine Vétérinaires de Dakar (EISMV)
• Senegalese Agricultural Research Institute (ISRA)
• The National Agricultural and Agro-Processing Research Fund (FNRAA) has transformed the funding of agricultural R&D in Senegal in that all public and private agricultural R&D agencies now compete equally, and this has promoted demand-driven research and the rationalization of operations.

Semi-Autonomous Government Extension Organizations and Parastatal

• Projet de Promotion de l’Entreprenariat Rural –Project to Promote Rural Entrepreneurship PROMER
• Societe de Developpement Agricole et Industriel du Senegal – Senegal Agricultural and Industrial Development Corporation – SODAGR
• Senegal OFADEC, African Office for Development and Cooperation
• SAED: Irrigated farming Production
• SODEVA: Operations in the Groundnut Basin
• SODEFIDEX: Cotton Production in Eastern Senegal
• SOMIVAC: Regional development farming in the Southern part of Senegal
• SODAGI: Irrigation Development in the South-Eastern part of Senegal

Private Sector Firms

The private sector generally focuses on cash crops and income, and addresses farmer households with strong market links. Private sector firms provide support in terms of input supply, market information and technical advice to farmers. In Senegal the private sector is dominated by large food-processing industries. The export oriented industry specializing in groundnut oils and canned fish, and the sector that serves the domestic market producing tomato concentrates, sugar refining, flour milling, milk powder soda water and other beverages. These agro-industrial firms are located in the Dakar area and benefit from proximity to the port of Dakar. Local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) engaged in processing domestic agricultural products, such as local cereals, fruit and vegetables, fish and milk are also present in Senegal, but their production technology is usually very primitive and production output remains small.

Non-Governmental Organizations and other Donors

NGOs are part of what is commonly referred to as civil society.  In Senegal, they are the most visible segment of civil society and include a wide variety of groups and organizations (feminist, cultural, religious and trade-related). Senegalese NGOs do not have members or sympathizers that participate regularly in financing their activities. Instead they depend on external public or private partners as well as the Senegalese state for financial aid. There are many NGOs in Senegal, but they are particularly numerous in the North (the St. Louis Region) and the South (the Ziguinchor Region). These NGOS are active in many areas and they focus most on providing technical and institutional support at the grassroots level. They have established partnerships with producer organizations and the Government’s extension services to provide agricultural extension and advisory services and support to farmers (World Bank, 1999).

Farmer Based Organizations and Cooperatives

There are hundreds of local organizations in Senegal. Many of these farmers’ organizations are linked to the associative movement and adhere to the federation of NGOs in Senegal (FONGS). Once empowered through farmers’ organizations and Community-Based Organizations CBO),  these farmers seek services from both private and public-sector providers and, over time, develop the ability to pay for such services. Farmers that are grouped into strong producer organizations have a significant advantage over the majority of Senegal’s farming community. For instance, in the case of rice farmers in the SAED irrigation scheme, the proof that they are receiving extension assistance as well as subsidized inputs facilitates their access to credit (AgCLIR, 2009). Below is a list of some farmers’ associations and groups in Senegal 

• National Union of Fresh Produce Growers of Senegal (UNPM)
• Walo Farmers’ Association (ASESCAW)
• Bamba-Thialen group
• Kabiline Group
• Centre de Gestion et d'Economie Rurale de vallée du fleuve Sénégal - Center for Management and Rural Economy of the Senegal River Valley, CGER VALLEE
  

List of Extension Providers

 The following list shows an excerpt from the GFRAS Directory of Extension Providers for Senegal. Some of these entries may be specially marked for having more detailed information in the database of the Worldwide Extension Study WWES.

Enabling Environment

Enabling (or Disabling) Environment

The country-wide enabling environment in which extension operates is critical to extension efforts. Most of Senegal is endowed with considerable water resources (surface water. groundwater, and Maastrichtian formations) that can be used for irrigation purposes. The Senegal River Valley, in particular, is of great importance, as are the basins of the Gambia and Casamance Rivers. The southern part of the “Groundnut Basin” has significant potential for growing cereals as well as crops like groundnuts.  Fifteen years after its historic economic liberalization, Senegal remains unusually vulnerable to food shortages and price shocks. Over two third of the thirteen million citizens work in the agricultural sector, yet the country relies on food imports for 70 percent of its food supply (AgCLIR, 2009). In addition to low productivity coming in most part from subsistence farmers, other critical elements such as market enablers (Senegal faces inefficient marketing systems, bottlenecked transport corridors, and a commerce based almost exclusively on arms-length transactions) and economy-wide enablers seem not to be in place to benefit agricultural extension in Senegal. However, in an effort to improve the overall economic environment particularly the agricultural sector, Senegal has undertaken a series of reforms (privatization and restructuring of public enterprises responsible for rural and agricultural development and liberalization of prices and markets) that have set the country on the path to growth.

ICT

Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

In terms of ICT development in West and Central Africa, Senegal is probably the leading sub-Saharan francophone country. Given that rural connectivity is a critical issue regarding the potential use of ICTs in rural areas, agricultural extension practitioners are becoming more actively involved in rural telecommunication policy advocacy efforts. Access to new ICTs, including increased mobile phone and Internet access in rural areas of Senegal is facilitating extension services delivery to farmers. A World Bank statistics report indicated that in 2009, fifty five percent of the population in Senegal own and operated a mobile phone, and with regard to internet use, 7.4 percent had access to internet.  Private sector, including NGOs and community-based organizations (CBOs), participating in extension service delivery are having fewer obstacles in responding to farmers’ demands. A dynamic information communication system known as Manobi has been established in Senegal. Manobi uses basic cellphones with wireless access protocol (WAP) and short messaging service (SMS) technology to provide members of Senegalese fishing communities, and fruit- and vegetable-grower farming communities, with up-to-date weather and market price information (Batchelor et al., 2003). The goal of users is to secure higher prices from middlemen and improve the timing of entry to markets when demand is high and supply is low. Users are also able to reduce spoilage by locating buyers while goods are still fresh. This project has also contributed to the expansion of mobile telephone infrastructure in targeted towns.

Training

Training for Extension Professionals

Until the late 1970s, the role of the academic sector in agricultural research in Senegal has been quite limited. Degree-level courses in the agricultural sciences only began in 1980 with the establishment of the Institut National de Développement Rural (INDR), which more recently was renamed Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Agriculture (ENSA). ENSA’s degree program normally takes five years to complete and leads to an Ingénieur Agronome degree. The degree is more general since the program prepares graduate to be agricultural officers responsible for all agricultural issues in their geographic area of coverage. The formal training only provides some basic knowledge of agricultural extension. There is widespread dissatisfaction with agricultural education and training available in Senegal. The universities are said to be geared entirely toward scientific education, with no practical training. Furthermore, only a very small percentage of students are enrolled in agricultural disciplines and, aside from what is provided by NGOs, donors, and private companies, virtually no opportunities for continuing education, in-service training or acquisition of new skills in agriculture exist (AgCLIR, 2009).

Statistics

Statistical Indicators

Source: The World Bank, *FAO Food and Agriculture Organization

References

References

AgCLIR, 2009. Commercial Legal and Institutional Reform Diagnostic of Senegal’s Agriculture sector. Agenda for action. USAID. September 2009.

Batchelor, S. and O’Farrell, C. (2003) Guiding principles for ICT interventions. In: FAO (ed.) Revisiting the ‘Magic Box’: Case Studies in Local Appropriation of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization.

Sagna, A. and G. Holmes. 1998. Perceptions of Rice farmers of the National Agricultural Extension Program in the Casamance, Senegal. Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education (JIAEE). Fall 1998.

Venkatesan, V. and J. Kampen. 1998. Evolution of Agricultural Services in Sub-Saharan Africa:Trends and Prospects. World Bank Discussion Paper No 390. Washington D.C.

World Bank, 1999. Agricultural Services and Producer Organizations Project in Support of the First Phase of the Agricultural Services and producer Organizations Program: Project Appraisal Document on a Proposed Credit to the republic of Senegal. Document of the World Bank Report No: 18554-SE.

ASTI Agricultural Research and Development investments and capacity in Senegal

Diallo A. (2008): Evaluation des besoins en information agricole dans les états du groupe Afrique-Caraïbes-Pacifique (ACP). Afrique. Etude sur le Sénégal. Wageningen, Centre technique de coopération agricole et rurale (CTA).

R. James Bingen and Jacques Faye (after 1985 ?): Agricultural Research and Extension in Francophone West Africa: The Senegal Experience.

Beaulieu, N. 2005. Rapport sur les Activités de Renforcement des Capacités Locales (output 3) et la Participation des Acteurs (output 7) au Sénégal De septembre 2003 à novembre 2005. Centre International d’Agriculture Tropicale (CIAT). Retrieved on November 1

Diagana, B. , A. Mankor, C. S. Fall Et A. Guèye. 2008. Agriculture Durable et Réduction de la Pauvreté dans le Bassin Arachidier du Sénégal: Résultats du Modèle Analyse Tradeoffs. Réflexions et Perspectives, Institut Sénégalais de Recherches Agricoles (ISRA). Vol. 6 No. 5. Retrieved on November 1

GSMA Development Fund. 2010. Women and mobile: A global opportunity: A study on the mobile phone gender gap in low and middle income countries. Retrieved on November 1

FIDA/ROPPA. 2004. Les Agriculteurs Prennent la Parole: Vision et Recommandations des Organisations Paysannes Africaines pour Le Programme Détaillé pour Le Développement de L’agriculture Africaine. Fonds International de Développement Agricole FIDA et Réseau des Organisations Paysannes et des Producteurs Agricoles de l’Afrique de l’Ouest (ROPPA) Lusaka - Zambia, 2004. Retrieved on November 1

Mazzucato, V., and M. El-Habib Ly. 1994. Statistical Brief on the National Agricultural Research System of Senegal. ISNAR Indicator Series Project: Phase II. Number 10. International Service for National Agricultural Research with support from the Government of Italy and Special Program for African Agricultural Research (SPAAR). Retrieved on November 1