Regional Markets

Regional Markets for Local Development
Key lessons
What can be learned from this case about the women of Taiba Niassene is that agriculture
production and productivity can greatly improve with quality seeds that are
accessible and affordable when farmers need them the most. It further shows that with
value-adding processing producers can gain a lot more than simply selling the raw
product. Another lesson is that public-private partnership seems to be an important
leveraging tool for agricultural development. It is important to understand the dynamics
of the state, private sector and the farmers, and to formalise their roles, thus ensuring
equitable and sustainable relationships. The government should take deliberate
efforts to protect and promote small agro-industries that enhance the processing of raw
agricultural products. Using this experience, ActionAid Senegal has helped create four
food processing units (for groundnuts, cereal, seafood and banana), mainly managed
by women. Through this support, it aims to put forward new models and alternatives
for smallholders and influence Senegal’s agricultural policies. Although the women
of Taiba Niassene have achieved some promising results, they encountered some key
challenges: the lack of good packaging materials, market competition from other oil
products that are subsidised, delayed infrastructural development and poor access to a
regional market.
The way forward
To enhance an ever smoother market access, continuing efforts are needed to build
the farmers’ capacity to play an increasingly effective role in the development of the
groundnut value chain. To counteract the competition of other subsidised oil products,
import regulations should be put in place. At the same time, regional integration for
effective cross-border trading among the members of the Economic Community of
West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU) should be promoted.
By linking up with small-scale groundnut processing units, the groundnut producing
women farmers of Taiba Niassene have proven that their engagement in value chain
development contributes to local economic development.
Abbreviations
AAS
AU
CCPA
CFA franc
CNCR
CNIA
ECOWAS
ActionAid Senegal
African Union
Cadre de concertation des producteurs d’arachides (groundnut farmers association)
Communauté Financière Africaine (African Financial Community)
Conseil National de Concertation et de Coopération des Ruraux (National Farmers’
Platform)
Conseil National Interprofessionnel d’Arachide (National Groundnut Council)
Economic Community Of West African States
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