Food sovereignty: Senegal will launch a program worth nearly 150 billion FCfa

To transform its agriculture, Senegal will launch the Support Program for Senegal’s Food Sovereignty Strategy (Pass). With a budget of 150 billion FCfa, it will be deployed in 10 regions covering the expanded peanut basin and Upper Casamance.

Senegal is taking a new step in its food sovereignty strategy with the official launch of the Senegal Food Sovereignty Strategy Support Program (Pass). With funding of nearly 150 billion FCfa and implemented with the support of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (Fida), this program will be deployed over the next 6 years in 10 regions covering the expanded peanut basin and Upper Casamance. The first meeting of the National Steering Committee (Cnp), held in Dakar, marked the official start of this system set to become one of the main instruments for implementing the national food sovereignty policy.

Beyond increasing production, the Pass aims to sustainably transform the agricultural economy. It aims to strengthen the resilience of farms to climate change, develop value chains, improve access to markets and increase the income of producers, particularly women and young people. “Sustainable food sovereignty is not only measured in tonnes produced, but also in income generated, jobs created and markets supplied,” recalled the Ministry of Agriculture, summarizing the new direction of national agricultural policy.

The program primarily targets family farms and vulnerable agricultural entrepreneurs. Its intervention revolves around three axes: securing and diversifying production, promoting agricultural products through the development of territorial markets and strengthening governance, monitoring-evaluation and knowledge management. Chairing the meeting, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Agriculture indicated that the Pass will make it possible to better connect production areas to markets, improve rural infrastructure, support agri-food processing and create more jobs and income in the territories. Farmers’ organizations welcomed an integrated approach.

The president of the Cncr, Nadjirou Sall, estimated that the program responds to the main challenges of family farms, from production to marketing, while calling for rapid implementation, so that rural populations quickly benefit from its benefits.
The administrative authorities of the regions concerned, for their part, reaffirmed their commitment to supporting the deployment of the project. They insisted on the need to take into account the effects of climate change, land salinization and the resilience of production systems to guarantee sustainable results.

The meeting also validated the first annual work plan and budget (Ptba 2026) and established a governance framework bringing together the State, local authorities, producer organizations, private sector, financial institutions, civil society and technical and financial partners.
With an investment of nearly 150 billion FCFA, the Pass appears to be one of the most structuring agricultural programs in recent years. By simultaneously focusing on production, processing, infrastructure, markets and governance, it intends to make food sovereignty a real lever for economic growth, job creation and territorial development.

Oumar FÉDIOR