Senegal
Creating opportunities for young farmers -
Training for agro-entrepreneurs in Senegal
Prepared for the climate change
As part of the project, 20 women and men are being trained in climate-resilient and sustainable farming methods and entrepreneurship and are passing on this expertise as trainers to family farms in the Matam and Thiès regions.
The aim is to empower women in particular to defy the many challenges posed by climate change. They are given the entrepreneurial and technical tools to build a sustainable family business and thus a future. Over 950 families have already benefited from this training. The combination of climate-adapted agricultural know-how and entrepreneurship is intended to make people fit for climate change.
- Total volume: 79.925 €
- Duration: March 2020 to December 2021
- Project region: Thiès and Matam, Senegal
- Project partner: Entrepreneurs du Monde, Beer Shéba
Funded by the Bavarian State Chancellery
Project Discrption
The project regions of Thiès and Matam are dominated by agriculture. Smallholder family farms there mainly grow subsistence products and produce for the market. As the knowledge of cultivation techniques has been traditionally passed down from generation to generation in the family farms, it is often not adapted to the new conditions and challenges posed by climate change. They simply do not know how to react to the new weather events, such as increasing drought or heavy rainfall. As a result, their incomes are declining and the time between harvests is becoming increasingly difficult to bridge. Many young people often see no prospects in the countryside and migrate to the cities and neighboring countries, or make their way to Europe.
The project “Creating opportunities for young farmers - agro-entrepreneurs in Senegal” addresses these challenges and includes the following measures:
1. Vocational Training
Young men and women were trained as agricultural trainers at the Beer Shéba training farm in the Thiès region. During the three-month course, they learn new cultivation and irrigation techniques in agriculture. The special thing about the training is that the agricultural methods they learn are explicitly adapted to climate change and should therefore increase yields despite climate change. The training also teaches the basics of business administration and entrepreneurship. This knowledge is often lacking in order to be able to competently offer products on the market and successfully lead the family business into the future.
2. Further vocational training for the Senegalese population
In the Thiès and Matam regions, the trained agricultural entrepreneurs then pass on their knowledge to the population on agricultural demonstration plots. Over 950 families are already benefiting from this knowledge and are now able to grow their own produce in a climate-resilient and sustainable way, increase their agricultural production for their own use and for sale and thus improve their living conditions.
3. Development of a solar pump
At the same time, a low-cost solar-powered water pump is being developed to enable year-round irrigation for several crop rotations. This will be offered on the market at a price that is also affordable for low-income families.
Voices from the project:
Thanks to Entrepreneurs du Monde, we received several training courses on cultivation techniques, pest control measures and ongoing support in maintaining the plots. We also received a donation of high-quality seeds that had never been available in our village before. We were trained in the preparation of compost for soil fertilization, which enabled us to achieve exceptionally high yields this year.
Faty Mamadou Ndiaye, Mère Bollé
The project is being implemented by the URBIS Foundation together with the French NGO Entrepreneurs du Monde and the Senegalese Center for Permaculture and Agroforestry Beer Shéba. It receives financial support from the Bavarian State Chancellery.
