Food Security

Context

Senegal is a low-income, food-deficit country of 14 million people. Approximately 80 percent of the population works in agriculture, depending on exhausted soils and rainfall that fluctuates from year to year. This has led to food shortages and poverty such that 26 percent of the population is undernourished and chronic malnutrition levels are particularly high among children under five.

Food Security involves three key aspects: availability of food year round, economic and physical access to food, and utilization of nutritious options.

Significant improvement in #food security is possible in Senegal. Potential yields of staple crops are often two to six times higher than what the average farmer currently harvests. The main obstacles to #agricultural production growth are farmers’ access to agricultural technologies, information, markets, and credit; villagers’ short-term approach to resource management; and the majority’s spending and energy diverted from long term goals to address immediate needs.

Intervention at the grass-roots level is necessary to develop an integrated, effective, and sustainable approach.

To develop its own food security initiative, Peace Corps Senegal partnered with USAID through a special Participatory Agency Program Agreement (PAPA) as part of Feed the Future and the Global Food Security Initiative proposed by Hillary Clinton and the Obama Administration. Peace Corps Senegal and USAID agreement includes $1.57 million for grassroots-level intervention projects. #USAID has made similar PAPA agreements with Peace Corps Mali and Peace Corps Ghana.

Peace Corps Senegal's Approach

Peace Corps Senegal focuses on four major initiatives to promote food security:

Master Farmers

Gardens

Nutrition

Markets

Results

Since the Food Security Initiative began in September 2009, there has been tangible improvement in the availability, access, and utilization of food:

• 33 school #gardens created with the technical assistance of Volunteers
• a total 1,449 participants including students and teachers
• 55 #nutrition trainings conducted with 1,1015 participants
• 104 community gardens working with volunteers to implement improved techniques
• 13 #master farmers trained and implementing demonstration #farms

Next Steps

Peace Corps Senegal will continue to develop the four initiatives outlined above. Anticipated benefits include:

• 3 master farmer demonstration sites in every targeted region
• 2 model #permaculture farms
• 375 trained farmers as agriculture experts
• Annual master farmer conferences
• 600 new school gardens and 300 community gardens
• 66,500 students educated in nutrition
• 200 villages develop food security 5 year plans

The food security initiative is supported through a partnership with USAID which includes a $1.57 million grant and careful assessment of our results. Visit the Peace Corps Partnership website to view and support current volunteer projects! Documents from the 2009 Peace Corps Africa Food Security Conference

Food Security Resources

Video

Watch APCD Famara Massaly describe the Master Farmer Program

Documents from the 2009 Peace Corps Africa Food Security Conference