Senegal

Despite significant economic growth and decades of political stability, Senegal still faces serious development challenges. More than one third of the population lives below the poverty line.
WFP/Carla De Gregorio

Poverty and Hunger

The number of people experiencing extreme hunger during the lean season has increased in recent years, from 490,000 in 2021 to 880,000 in 2022 to 1.26 million in 2023. Poverty and food insecurity are particularly prevalent in rural areas of the country.

Hunger is rising due to extreme weather and economic shocks. Heatwaves, droughts and flooding have damaged food production. Limited access to land and water also affects small-scale farmers’ livelihoods. Women, who make up 60% of the agricultural workforce, have less access to resources than men, which puts them at higher risk of facing food insecurity.

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women harvesting in field WFP/Martin Dixon
Make a difference in Senegal

Hunger Stats

WFP’s Work in Senegal

Despite the challenges, here’s how we’re fighting hunger and building sustainability in Senegal.
Pupils from Ndem Meissa school enjoy the hot meal provided by the school canteen. In Senegal, the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Ministry of Education (MEN) through the School Canteens Division have implemented an activity entitled "Restoring the functioning of school feeding in vulnerable public elementary schools" which aims at providing regular school feeding for four months to vulnerable children in priority in academies located in the areas most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, In the Diourbel region, the project aims to provide regular school feeding for four months to vulnerable children in priority academies located in the areas most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, to ensure their retention in school and to improve their learning capacity for the general resumption of the 2020/2021 school year. In the Diourbel region, more precisely at the Ndem school, this initiative has been successful, leading to an increase in enrolment. This has ensured that the activity has been extended beyond the 4 months thanks to additional funding from WFP. However, with the rise in food prices in the markets due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the crisis in Ukraine, parents of pupils in the Ndem school now have to send their children with a loaf of bread in addition to the meal provided in the school canteen. This is an expensive expense for these farmers, most of whom have seen their harvests reduced as a result of the low rainfall recorded in 2021.
School Meals
WFP provides nutritious meals for schoolchildren in areas with high levels of food and nutrition insecurity, with additional activities to promote attendance by girls, as well as good nutrition practices. Food is procured through local producers, which stimulates agricultural production and the local economy.
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Hand measurement of Fadima Keita to know her actual nutritional status The WFP project RESIGUI, funded by the European Union in Guinea supports 20,000 food insecure and vulnerable households (100,000 people) across the four (4) regions of the country with food and nutrition assistance through unconditional cash transfers, plumpy d’oz, super cereal and fortified oil rich in vitamin A distribution to improve their food security and nutritional status. The project also includes a resilient component by equipping smallholder farmers and communities with seeds, farming tools, storage facilities, access to water, cash for work and trainings on good agricultural practices, governance, and simplified fund management. This aims to improve their local food (rice and vegetable) production systems and access to market.
Nutrition
WFP provides children and pregnant and breastfeeding women with specialized nutritious food to treat and prevent malnutrition, and promotes awareness on nutrition and infant feeding practices. WFP also supports government efforts to address vitamin and mineral deficiencies including through salt iodization and food fortification.
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Half-moons are a technology that can be used by communities to restore degraded land and convert them into productive areas. Their semi-circular structure helps to harvest and conserve rainfall and runoff waters and restore soil moisture; it also works to reduce erosion, and with the addition of manure/compost, they help to improve soil fertility. Half-moons are multifunctional and have various designs: pastoral, agrosylvo-pastoral and sylvo-pastoral. Indeed, they can be used to grow crops, trees and forage. By expanding the production/grazing areas, this technology contributes to increased yields, income, and food security within a given community. To help restore the food security of the most vulnerable people in Matam, Senegal, WFP introduced half-moons which were used to convert 24ha of glacis unexploited for more than 40 years into a productive area to the direct benefit of 238 households. On the demonstration sites in Diandioli village 6237 half-moons were designed with slight differences amongst them to test the functionality possibilities; similarly, to some households planted sorghum while others planted niebe and watermelon. Once the site is fertile and productive enough to allow for harvest, the produce can be used for household consumption or market sales.
Food For Assets
WFP supports communities exposed to climate shocks and other risks in building resilient livelihoods and sustainable food systems through the creation of productive assets, the diversification of sources of income, access to climate insurance and the setting up of village cereal banks to minimize post-harvest losses.
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