This study leveraged existing data infrastructure and relationships from the Feed the Future Senegal Naatal Mbay (“flourishing agriculture”) project, funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by RTI International from 2015 to 2019. The research informed and empowered farmer organizations to track and respond to rural households in 2020 as they faced the COVID-19 pandemic. Farmer organizations, with support from RTI and local ICT firm STATINFO, administered a survey to a sample of 800 agricultural households that are members of four former Naatal Mbay–supported farmer organizations in two rounds in August and October 2020. Focus group discussions were conducted with network leadership pre- and post–data collection to contextualize the experience of the COVID-19 shock and to validate findings. The results showed that farmers were already reacting to the effects of low rainfall during the 2019 growing season and that COVID-19 compounded the shock through disrupted communications and interregional travel bans, creating food shortages and pressure to divert seed stocks for food. Food insecurity effects, measured through the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale and cereals stocks, were found to be greater for households in the Casamance region than in the Kaolack and Kaffrine regions. The findings also indicate that farmer networks deployed a coordinated response comprising food aid and access to personal protective equipment, distribution of short-cycle legumes and grains (e.g., cowpea, maize) and vegetable seeds, protection measures for cereals seeds, and financial innovations with banks. However, food stocks were expected to recover as harvesting began in October 2020, and the networks were planning to accelerate seed multiplication, diversify crops beyond cereals, improve communication across the network. and mainstream access to financial instruments in the 2021 growing season. The research indicated that the previous USAID-funded project had likely contributed to the networks’ COVID-19 resilience capacities by building social capital and fostering the new use of tools and technologies over the years it operated.

This study leveraged existing data infrastructure and relationships from the Feed the Future Senegal Naatal Mbay ("flourishing agriculture") project, funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by RTI International from 2015 to 2019. The research informed and empowered farmer organizations to track and respond to rural households in 2020 as they faced the COVID-19 pandemic. Farmer organizations, with support from RTI and local ICT firm STATINFO, administered a survey to a sample of 800 agricultural households that are members of four former Naatal Mbay-supported farmer organizations in two rounds in August and October 2020. Focus group discussions were conducted with network leadership pre- and post-data collection to contextualize the experience of the COVID-19 shock and to validate findings. The results showed that farmers were already reacting to the effects of low rainfall during the 2019 growing season and that COVID-19 compounded the shock through disrupted communications and interregional travel bans, creating food shortages and pressure to divert seed stocks for food. Food insecurity effects, measured through the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale and cereals stocks, were found to be greater for households in the Casamance region than in the Kaolack and Kaffrine regions. The findings also indicate that farmer networks deployed a coordinated response comprising food aid and access to personal protective equipment, distribution of short-cycle legumes and grains (e.g., cowpea, maize) and vegetable seeds, protection measures for cereals seeds, and financial innovations with banks. However, food stocks were expected to recover as harvesting began in October 2020, and the networks were planning to accelerate seed multiplication, diversify crops beyond cereals, improve communication across the network. and mainstream access to financial instruments in the 2021 growing season. The research indicated that the previous USAID-funded project had likely contributed to the networks' COVID-19 resilience capacities by building social capital and fostering the new use of tools and technologies over the years it operated.

Senegal reported its first case of COVID-19 on March 2, 2020. The government responded within two weeks, introducing preventive measures to slow the spread of the virus, including the declaration of a public health emergency, border closures, and the prohibition of intercity travel and gatherings. These measures also slowed economic activity throughout the country and disrupted food supply chains and markets, contributing to loss of livelihoods, income, and households’ purchasing power. Evidence suggests that globally, women have been hit harder by the COVID-19 crisis, in particular with respect to impacts on economic security, health, education, and increased caretaking responsibilities in the household.

To understand the impact of COVID-19 on rural women, we designed a longitudinal panel study collecting five rounds of phone survey data with data drawn from a representative face-to-face survey in rural Senegal covering Fatick, Kaffrine, Kaolack, Kedougou, Kolda, Matam, Saint-Louis, Sedhiou, Tambacounda, and Ziguinchor regions. Due to low survey coverage of females in the first round, the second and third rounds surveyed both spouses and then randomly picked one male or female respondent per household to include in the study. For comparability we focus on findings from rounds 2-5. Figure 1 provides a detailed description of the study timeline and sample size covered in each round.

Cette etude a tire parti d'une infrastructure d'encadrement et de collecte de donnees et de relations prealables legue par le projet Feed the Future Senegal Naatal Mbay («agriculture florissante»), finance par l'Agence des États-Unis pour le developpement international (USAID) et mis en œuvre par RTI International entre 2015 et 2019. Realisee en 2020, la recherche a integre des organisations de producteurs pour qu'elles puissent suivre les menages ruraux membres de leurs reseaux alors qu'ils faisaient face à la pandemie de COVID-19 et tentaient de reagir à ce choc. Les organisations de producteurs, avec le soutien de RTI et de la societe-conseil locale STATINFO, ont realise une enquête sur un echantillon de 800\smenages agricoles membres de quatre organisations de producteurs soutenus par Naatal Mbay, realisee en deux passages successifs, en août et octobre\s2020. Des groupes de discussion ont ete menes avec les responsables des reseaux, ainsi qu'une collecte de donnees a posteriori ont permis de contextualiser l'experience face au choc de la COVID-19 et de valider les conclusions. Les conclusions ont montre que les producteurs etaient dejà aux prises des effets des faibles precipitations de la saison de production de 2019 et que la COVID-19 a aggrave ce premier choc du fait des perturbations des communications et des interdictions de deplacements entre les regions, creant ainsi des penuries alimentaires et exerçant ainsi une pression sur l'utilisation des stocks de semences à des fins alimentaires. Les effets de l'insecurite alimentaire, mesures par le biais de l'echelle d'accès d'insecurite alimentaire des menages, se sont averes être plus importants pour les menages de Casamance que pour ceux des regions de Kaolack et de Kaffrine. Les conclusions ont egalement indique que les reseaux de producteurs ont deploye une intervention coordonnee incluant aide alimentaire et accès à des equipements de protection individuelle, distribution de semences de legumes et de cereales à cycle court (par exemple, le niebe et le maïs) et des semences adaptees au jardinage, mesures de protection pour les semences de cereales de l'annee suivante et innovations financières avec les banques pour securiser les credits. On s'attend à ce que les stocks d'alimentation soient reconstitues au debut de la recolte en octobre\s2020 et les reseaux prevoient d'accelerer la multiplication des semences, de diversifier les cultures au-delà des cereales, d'ameliorer la communication au sein des reseaux et de generaliser l'accès aux instruments financiers au cours de la saison\s2021. Les etudes ont indique que le projet anterieur finance par l'USAID est susceptible d'avoir contribue aux capacites de resilience des reseaux en renforçant le capital social et en encourageant le recours à des technologies et outils nouveaux au cours de ses annees de fonctionnement.

Senegal experienced annual economic growth of 4.8 percent during the 2009 to 2019 period (World Bank 2023a). With an annual population growth rate of 2.7 percent over the same period, the living standards of Senegalese improved modestly. In 2020, the global COVID-19 pandemic caused a significant slowdown in economic growth, but growth rebounded in 2021. While the country was adversely affected by the global commodity market disruptions related to the Russia-Ukraine war that started in 2022 (Arndt et al. 2023; Diao and Thurlow 2023), its growth is projected to reach 8.0 percent in 2023 and 10.5 percent in 2024 (World Bank 2023b). This suggests a much-improved short-term outlook and a future growth trajectory well above its pre-pandemic growth trajectory. Agriculture is a relatively small sector in Senegal, accounting for less than one-fifth of GDP. However, the broader agrifood system (AFS), which includes processing, trade and transport of agrifood products, and food services, makes up about one-third of GDP. In this brief, we examine the performance of Senegal’s broader AFS and its contribution to growth and transformation.

The book begins with a description of commercial agriculture in West Africa and penetration by an agribusiness firm. The author then draws on data from a case study from Senegal to examine various impacts of the firm's intervention - gains and losses to the farmers and wage workers and detailed changes in gender and class relations which constitute a transition in class structure. The book concludes with the assertion that projects are not successful when they ignore the important role of the small farmers and their food production system