Kafountine: work on the Smoking Center launched

The Minister of Fisheries and Maritime Economy, Amy Mara Dièye, launched, on Saturday October 24, the work of the Fish Smoking Center and the House of Fisheries Actors in Kafountine. These two infrastructures will, ultimately, reduce the abusive use of wood for smoking, improve the working conditions of women, ensure better product hygiene and increase the competitiveness of products on national and sub-regional markets.

A new era is dawning for Kafountine. The town will benefit from two smoking centers and a House for fishing professionals. “The modern fish smoking unit, costing more than 218 million FCfa, provides a relevant response to the problem of the abusive use of wood in the smoking of fish products,” declared the Minister of Fisheries and Maritime Economy.

According to Amy Mara Dièye, visiting the site last week, the modern Kafountine smoking center will be built and equipped in strict compliance with the standards and principles required for the development of agri-food processing units. It will have a technical block housing a reception and conservation area for raw materials, as well as areas for processing, smoking, drying, packaging and storage of finished products.

Currently, the Kafountine smoking site consumes up to 72 tonnes of wood per day. To improve the working conditions of women and reduce pressure on wood resources, the smoking area will be equipped with high energy efficiency ovens, therefore using less wood. These ovens will also use biochar made from agricultural by-products, residues from the processing of forest products, etc. as fuel.

The center will also have an administrative block including, among other things, a childcare center, an infirmary, changing rooms, and a retail store. The same type of center will be built on Diogué, an island in the commune of Kafountine. “The construction of these smoking centers represents a major step forward for artisanal processing,” said the minister.

With more than 43,996 tonnes of fishery products landed in 2025, for a commercial value estimated at more than 15 billion FCfa, Kafountine is, today, one of the most dynamic centers of artisanal fishing in Senegal. The site has more than 865 active canoes mobilizing more than 6,118 fishermen. It demonstrates the dynamism of the sector, but also the challenges to be met.

In the same dynamic, Amy Mara Dièye laid the first stone of the House of Fisheries Actors, the cost of which is estimated at more than 80 million FCfa. It will be a space for consultation, training and coordination for all stakeholders in the sector. The infrastructure will promote dialogue between sector players and local authorities while strengthening participatory governance and sector cohesion.

The women processors of fish products from Kafountine took advantage of the presence of the Minister of Fisheries to request exchange visits to the countries most experienced in smoking, such as Gambia, Gabon, Togo and Guinea Conakry.