Senegal

Diennabou Ba, 50, runs a small business and is an active member of an insurance and training program run by an Oxfam partner for women in his village in Senegal. Credit: Chris Hufstader / Ox

Diennabou Ba, 50, runs a small breeding and juice production business. She is an active member of an insurance and training program for women in her village and directed by Oxfam La Lumière's partner. Credit: Chris Hufstader / Oxfam

Context

Senegal is one of the most stable countries in West Africa. However, this stability barely conceals the poverty that prevails there. More than half of its 15.4 million inhabitants (2016) live below the poverty line. Senegal was ranked 164 out of 189 countries in the 2018 Human Development Index (HDI) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The agriculture sector, the main source of jobs and resources, is facing difficulties due to its limited mechanization, climate change, and lack of access to inputs and land, especially for women. However, the discovery of significant oil and natural gas deposits in recent years could change the country's economic configuration.

Oxfam in Senegal

Oxfam has been working in Senegal since 1981, through a variety of projects and programs, which have mainly been implemented by national NGOs and grassroots community organizations. Oxfam finances interventions in various sectors such as access to water, agricultural production, small-scale fishing, education, micro-finance and peacebuilding. 52.2% of these actions directly involve women and youth.

Promoting the development of small-scale farming

Oxfam is contributing to the development of a competitive and inclusive model of agriculture and agricultural processing, driven by women and youth in small family farms and other emerging structures (groups of young people, women, etc.), in partnership with a responsible private sector. Oxfam advocates for producers to have access to means of production, markets, and skills to enable them to strengthen and control their livelihoods in a sustainable manner, and build their resilience to climate shocks or other unforeseen events.

Effectively responding to humanitarian crises

Oxfam is working with vulnerable communities, NGOs and State services at both the national and local levels to establish integrated disaster management, from prevention to emergency responses. We are contributing to strengthening the leadership and visibility of local actors in the humanitarian response.

Supporting citizens’ participation in good governance

Oxfam supports citizens, particularly women and youth, to negotiate their rights and increase their participation in political, social, and economic life by changing the power relationship between the State and citizens. We promote transparency and multi-actor dialogue in public finances and the extractive industries by supporting civil society actors to actively participate in the reforms of the legal and institutional governance frameworks of the mineral resources sector.

Providing water, sanitation and hygiene

Oxfam works to strengthen the resilience of the poorest people in peri-urban and rural areas and to enable them to exercise their right to quality basic services through the interaction of various affordable, inclusive and innovative products and services, adapted to the specific needs of women and girls, as well as through the development of innovative development mechanisms in partnership with the private sector.