Senegal

Overview

Senegal is one of the world's poorest countries, with approximately 34 percent of its population living on less than US$1.25/day. On the United Nations Development Programme's 2011 human development index, Senegal ranks 155 out of 187 countries. As a result of an inequitable distribution of wealth, there are relatively higher poverty levels in rural areas.

Demographic pressure is a major concern: Senegal's population is estimated at 12.9 million, with 68 percent under the age of 25 and 57 percent living in rural areas. The rate of productivity is low, and unemployment and underemployment rates are high, especially among youth. With Senegal's annual population growth of about 3 percent, some 100,000 young individuals enter the labour market each year. Not everyone has access to education, and illiteracy is widespread, especially among women and girls. Environmental degradation is an obstacle to development in some regions, where accelerating soil erosion, salinization, and the disappearance of vegetation also impact food security.

The World Bank currently considers Senegal to be moderately vulnerable with respect to food security. During 2008, Senegal experienced a food crisis, caused mainly by low rainfall, decreased food production, and a sharp price increase for basic commodities. To counter such situations, women often develop strategies for the survival of their families, for instance, taking on low-paying or risky employment in order to feed their families. This practice reinforces inequalities between women and men, which in turn, hinders development.

Since 1982, the Casamance region, a poor, geographically isolated areas in southern Senegal, has suffered a low-intensity conflict led by a separatist movement. In spite of the signing of a peace agreement in 2004, the conflict and its consequences continue to hinder development of the region. The return to a definitive peace will in part depend on the creation of economic opportunities for the region and its people, through, for example, increased agri-food production.

Senegal provides strong leadership in the continent and is a hub of economic and political stability in the West African region. Senegal also plays an important role in peace talks and peacekeeping missions in Africa, for instance, in Sudan.

Senegal has identified as follows its most pressing needs under the four strategic axes of its Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP II) for 2006-2010 (PDF, 1.64 MB, 107 pages):

• Creation of wealth for the benefit of the poor
• Accelerated access to basic social services, mainly education and health
• Social protection, prevention, and management of risks and natural disasters
• Governance and decentralized participatory development

Thematic Focus

In 2009, as part of Canada's new aid effectiveness agenda, Senegal was selected by CIDA as a country of focus. CIDA's objective in Senegal is to contribute to reducing household poverty by 50 percent by 2015. This objective is aligned directly with Senegal's PRSP II goal.

Children and youth

CIDA contributes to:

• Improving the quality of education
• Improving management of and access to basic education, especially for girls
• Building skills for employment for youth through formal education, literacy programs, and vocational and technical training to enhance their employability

Food security

CIDA is contributing to Senegal's food security by scaling up its programs in agriculture and agri-food to support economic development in the region of Casamance and the region of Niayes. This will:

• Improve the productivity of small-scale farmers
• Increase product diversification and commercialization
• Improving access to microfinance in rural areas

CIDA also supports the Government of Senegal's decentralization efforts, including local governments' ability to deliver services. At the same time, it continues to work toward the availability, in rural areas, of microfinance institutions to provide more access to financial products and services.

Progress on Aid Effectiveness

Donor harmonization and coordination under the leadership of Senegal's government is improving from year to year, thereby contributing to the government's greater ownership of the development process and prompting greater effectiveness for donors as they work jointly to effect change.

The donors' division of labour is well organized. Canada recently became the lead donor in the education sector, providing CIDA the opportunity to play a significant role in improving donor coordination and harmonization.

A joint action plan for aid effectiveness in Senegal for 2008-2010 was adopted in May 2008. The plan identifies a series of measures and targets, including greater donor alignment to sector programs, to be achieved by 2010.

Accomplishments 2009-2010

Food security

• Initiated six new projects aimed at increasing food security in Senegal

Children and youth (2008-2010)

• Trained more than 21,000 educators
• Increased overall school enrolment rate to 92.5 percent
• Increased school enrolment rate specifically for girls to 95.9 percent, exceeding enrolment rate for boys by 6.7 percent
• Increased the national completion rate for primary schools in Senegal to 59.6 percent
• Filled the competency gap between farm workers and agricultural engineers by creating the 'Brevet de technicien supérieur', a post-secondary diploma

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