Senegal Farmer Networks Respond to COVID-19 [Internet]

This study leveraged existing data infrastructure and relationships from the Feed the Future Senegal Naatal Mbay (“flourishing agriculture”) project, funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by RTI International from 2015 to 2019. The research informed and empowered farmer organizations to track and respond to rural households in 2020 as they faced the COVID-19 pandemic. Farmer organizations, with support from RTI and local ICT firm STATINFO, administered a survey to a sample of 800 agricultural households that are members of four former Naatal Mbay–supported farmer organizations in two rounds in August and October 2020. Focus group discussions were conducted with network leadership pre- and post–data collection to contextualize the experience of the COVID-19 shock and to validate findings. The results showed that farmers were already reacting to the effects of low rainfall during the 2019 growing season and that COVID-19 compounded the shock through disrupted communications and interregional travel bans, creating food shortages and pressure to divert seed stocks for food. Food insecurity effects, measured through the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale and cereals stocks, were found to be greater for households in the Casamance region than in the Kaolack and Kaffrine regions. The findings also indicate that farmer networks deployed a coordinated response comprising food aid and access to personal protective equipment, distribution of short-cycle legumes and grains (e.g., cowpea, maize) and vegetable seeds, protection measures for cereals seeds, and financial innovations with banks. However, food stocks were expected to recover as harvesting began in October 2020, and the networks were planning to accelerate seed multiplication, diversify crops beyond cereals, improve communication across the network. and mainstream access to financial instruments in the 2021 growing season. The research indicated that the previous USAID-funded project had likely contributed to the networks’ COVID-19 resilience capacities by building social capital and fostering the new use of tools and technologies over the years it operated.