Senegal
- 39%
- of people live in poverty
- 60%
- of the population is under 25 years of age
- 15.4 million
- population
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, and 75 percent of families suffer from chronic poverty.
Poverty and food insecurity are particularly prevalent in rural areas in the north, east and south of the country. The agriculture sector is dominated by subsistence farming, with limited access to good quality seeds and fertilizers, technology, finance and credit, agricultural insurance and post-harvest storage techniques. Reliance on traditional, unsustainable practices – including overgrazing and bush fires – contributes to land degradation. Climate change is also closely related to rural poverty and under-development: with 70 percent of the crops being rain-fed, the sector is highly vulnerable to climate shocks, which have severe impacts on the availability and prices of food.
What the World Food Programme is doing in Senegal
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School feeding
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WFP provides nutritious meals for 294,500 school children 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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Nutrition
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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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Resilience building
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Through the , 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. WFP works with the Government to facilitate procurement for school feedings programmes through local smallholder farmers.
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Capacity strengthening
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WFP works to strengthen the capacity of the Government and partners at all levels to manage food security and nutrition strategies by providing training and technical support in food security and nutrition analysis, early warning, insurance index design, supply chain management and emergency preparedness and response, with a special focus on gender.
Senegal news releases
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Partners and donors
Achieving Zero Hunger is the work of many. Our work in Senegal is made possible by the support and collaboration of our partners and donors, including:
Find out more about the state of food security in Senegal
Visit the food security analysis pageContacts
Office
Route du Méridien Président, Almadies BP 6902 Dakar Etoile, Senegal
Dakar
Senegal
Phone
+221 33 859 75 50
Fax
+ 221 33 820 70 24