Senegalese agriculture needs quality inputs to improve its productivity and contribute to achieving food sovereignty. In this context, organic fertilizers produced by biodigesters appear as a promising alternative that should be further developed. It was with this in mind that the workshop for stakeholders in the organic fertilizer sector, held this Wednesday, took place.

For Doudou Diouf, from the Directorate of Hydrocarbons, the challenge is to structure this sub-sector in order to increase production and facilitate the integration of biofertilizers into agricultural supply chains.

“Senegalese agriculture needs inputs, particularly fertilizers, but clean and sustainable fertilizers,” he emphasizes. He believes that developing this sector could help gradually reduce the use of chemical fertilizers, provided sufficient quantities of biofertilizers are available.

The approach taken involves, in particular, grouping producers into associations, strengthening their organization, and facilitating their relations with the Ministry of Agriculture. The objective is to give the sector greater visibility and promote its contribution to national agricultural production.

The economic benefits of this activity are already being felt in the intervention areas of the program supported by Enabel. Bassirou Sarr, head of the "Food Security and Resilience of Food Systems" project at Enabel Senegal, indicates that more than 1,000 tons of organic amendments were marketed last year under the program in question.

These sales generated an announced turnover of 160 million CFA francs, of which approximately 40 million directly benefited households and 100 million benefited entrepreneurs, according to figures provided by the official.