Regional Markets

Regional Markets for Local Development
position. Groundnut farming is especially widespread in the so-called Groundnuts
Basin in central Senegal, which includes the Saloum, Fatick, Kaolack, Diourbel,
Louga and Thiès regions. The area represents about one-third of Senegal’s cultivable
lands, and employs almost two-thirds of agricultural workers (Akobundu 1998).
Peanut farming provides the main source of income, with millet, maize and sorghum
as the important staple crops. In recent years, groundnuts are increasingly being used
as a food commodity and livestock feed (processed peanut cake). The groundnut sector
in Senegal has been battling various problems since the 1970s. In the 1960s groundnut
exports accounted for more than 80% of Senegal’s overall exports. In the 1970s
they fell to 40% and continued to fall, finally stabilising at around 10% in the 1990s
(Freud et al. 1997).
Over 70% of Senegal’s population is involved in rain fed agriculture (only 5% of agricultural
land is irrigated). Smallholder estates dominate, and usually plant both a
staple food crop and a cash crop, for example, intercropping groundnuts with millet.
Covering 40% of agricultural land, Groundnut production provides direct employment
for almost a million Senegalese (USAID Foreign Agricultural Services 2007).
Since the full liberalisation of the sector and the privatisation of the official groundnut
marketing and processing company (SONACOS) in 2002, farmers have been coping
with several problems and challenges. Particularly pressing issues have been the availability
of fertilisers, good quality seeds and product marketing. Since 2002, ActionAid
Senegal (AAS) has been supporting the groundnut farmers of Fatick and Kaolack.
AAS assisted the Cadre de concertation des producteurs d’arachides (CCPA), a groundnut
farmers association formed in 2001, in the launch of a seed multiplication project,
aimed at revitalising production volumes. Focusing on women farmers in particular, the
programme supports their efforts to organise production, increase productivity as well
as process and market their produce. Also an advocacy element is involved, encouraging
the government of Senegal to develop adequate and sustainable agricultural policies.
This case tells the story of women groundnut producers from the Kaolack Region, who
improved their access to markets by linking up with processors.
The groundnut value chain: how farmers organise
CCPA is a member organisation of the national farmers’ platform, Conseil National
de Concertation et de Coopération des Ruraux (CNCR). The groundnut farmers association’s
main objective is to lobby on behalf of its members to secure better support
from the government. It has 8,000 members in rural areas, divided into 48 groups. A
particularly pressing problem during the last decade was poor seed quality. The quality
of the available seed had degraded, providing for lower yields and thus lower productivity.
ActionAid Senegal and CCPA partnered to improve and cultivate seeds. GIPA, the
Inter Village Association of Groundnut Producers, implements this seed programme.
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