Think Creative Fall 2023

a Good

Investment

Using blended finance in Senegal to strengthen food security and boost employment

By Fatima Datt

Arame Mbaye left school at the age of 11 to work as a farmer, growing rice and vegetables to help support her family. Now at age 62, she has worked for more than four decades in the fields of Ross Bethio, a community some 50miles fromher native Saint-Louis, Senegal. Today, she is the owner of four hectares of rice paddy fields and is the President of the Economic Interest Group, a co alition of around 20 women paddy rice farmers. Saint-Louis is located at the entrance of the

Senegal River, north of the country’s capi tal, and is a large rice-producing area. The geographical position of Saint-Louis offers favorable climatic conditions for agricultural production. Combined with the potential of irrigable land (estimated at 172,800 hectares) and the abundance of water, the region is a major agricultural hub for Senegal. Nonetheless, Arame struggled to expand and make her agribusiness profitable. Paddy cultivation is her main source of income.

With profits ranging from $3 to $4 per 80 kg bag of paddy, she found it difficult to pay off her loan, reinvest in costly inputs and meet her family’s needs. Harvest seasons were mostly unprofitable. “When the season is good, I can pay the loan and have a small profit. But if the season is bad, I could barely pay the bank and have something left for me,” she says. Across West Africa, small-scale agriculture ventures like Arame’s are critical to regional

Photo by Deleba Nomo Serge Kadel for USAID

20 | Think Creative | Fall 2023