Lowland rice production in southern Senegal (Middle Casamance): Challenges and prospects for sustaining their restoration and development

Abstract

The region of Sédhiou in the Middle Casamance in southern Senegal has favourable soil and climatic conditions and a long rice growing tradition, especially in the lowland areas. Since the 1970s, growing environmental and social constraints have led the government of Senegal, together with development aid agencies, to implement policies to preserve, restore and develop Casamance valleys, especially to halt the ongoing salinization of ricegrowing areas.Lowland rice growing remains a subsistence farming activity that uses traditional practices by which farmers, especially women, seek to reduce economic risks rather than intensify productivity. Actions implemented over the years have encountered obstacles of different kinds, and it is often not possible to consolidate expected outcomes. The study identifies lowland areas of the region and outlines the main internal and external constraints at technical, environmental and socio-economic levels that lastingly affect local rice production. Specifically, the study highlights the short-term valorisation strategy pursued by lowlands rehabilitation projects, which have not sought to solve farmers' problems in the long term. This approach has helped to maintain lowland farming during the project years, but has not ensured their long-term sustainability. This study, aimed at revitalizing lowland rice production in the region, underlines the need to promote support actions to protect agricultural lowland areas, consistent with farmers' strategies and objectives that will also break the vicious cycle threatening intervention sustainability. An operational approach is proposed as a tool for study and for support planning and implementation.