Creating social business to develop the agro-industrial supply chain in Senegal

Title Social Business et Innovative development of the agro-industrial chain in Thiès Region (SB-AGROIN)

Location Thiès Region, Senegal

Duration 2019 -2021

Project Leader ASES – Agricoltori Sostenibilità e Sviluppo

Partners ARCS – Arci Cultura Solidali, AOI – Associazione delle organizzazioni italiane di cooperazione e solidarietà internazionale, Glocal Impact Network , PIN S.c.r.l. –Yunus Social Business Centre University of Florence

Local Partners Green Senegal, Institut Sénégalais de Recherche Agricole (ISRA), Association JEF

Funding AICS – Agenzia Italiana di Cooperazione allo Sviluppo

 

Context

Thiès small producers suffer from the following problems: lack of access to water, low skills in the production of fruit and vegetables and low quality of production factors. This leads to a low productivity and low production of the cultivated areas, meaning that agriculture is not an income generating activity for the small producers and neither allows for the achievement of food security. The abandonment or underuse of land along with malnutrition are the most visible effects of this situation.

 

General Objective

The SB AGROIN project aims at increasing food security and the income of small farmers by improving their production techniques and by developing the agro-industrial chain, mainly the sale and diffusion of innovative production factors and the transformation of fruit and vegetables and their marketing.

To achieve these objectives, the project activities include:

  • the training and the strengthening of small producers’ technical and managerial skills
  • the adoption of innovative production systems in the agricultural field marketed by the social enterprises created by the project.
  • the development of a fruit and vegetable supply chain aimed at increasing the number of processed agricultural products sold on the market.

 

Our contribution

ARCO and YSBCUF are supporting the creation of 3 social enterprises:

  • a social enterprise processing fruit, vegetables and cereals,
  • a social enterprise installing the “Agritube” systems. The Agritubes, conceived by the innovative start-up Glocal Impact Network, are simplified soilless cultivation systems (systems which are also sponsored by FAO). The Agritube system is an economically sustainable hydroponic cultivation with low technological input.
  • A social enterprise installing the integrated irrigation systems of wells, pumps served by solar panels /drip irrigation.

The creation of these three social enterprises will be financed through a revolving fund set up with a local microfinance institution. The YSBCUF will support the entire process of enterprise creation and the setting up of the revolving fund to ensure the ownership of the beneficiaries and the long-term sustainability of the project.

Read more on our Social Economy Unit