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Senegal

The Landscape

Most subsistence farmers in Senegal rely on rain-fed agriculture to feed their families, but with only one rainy season per year, climate change is dramatically impacting the reliability of Senegal’s growing season.

DIG’s program is based in Ziguinchor, the capital of the Casamance region in the south.  In this peri-urban area, most of our participants are farming for the first time, many defying the odds of cultivating healthy gardens in sandy soil and salt water flats.

DIG’s Commitment

DIG’s first seeds as an organization were planted in Senegal from 2006-2008. New partnerships took us to East and Central Africa where we spent a decade refining our model. In 2019 DIG returned to Senegal through a collaboration with Rise Against Hunger, the University of Washington-Senegal Research Collaboration, and the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Fann.

In our return, our goal has been to deliver DIG’s nutrition-sensitive agriculture program to young mothers, people living with HIV, undernourished children, and other uniquely vulnerable groups in the Casamance region. Here, we have been rolling-out our program through the public healthcare infrastructure.

DIG has developed demonstration and teaching gardens at health clinics and direct to community groups all of which focus on three objectives; improving nutritional wellbeing, economic opportunity, and food security.

Perspective

“My home garden connects me with my community. My house became a local market and people come there to purchase vegetables. It makes me well known. Some neighbors don’t have money to purchase the vegetable and I sometimes give them free for their household. This act strengthens our social relationship. I also trained some women in gardening and the community has experienced an increased interest in gardening.”

~ Dianke Camara, DIG Farmer

Current Programs


Nutrition Sensitive Agriculture at Hospitals 

Farming Cooperatives for Local Markets 

DIG's Senegal Team


Salam

Senegal Country Director

Salam Sawadogo joined DIG in 2013 as a Project Lead in his home country, Burkina Faso. He holds a Masters Degree in Agronomy, Project Management, Environmental Management, and Sustainable Development. Salam is one of only a few West Africans who have received a Master Trainer Certificate from the Farmer Field Schools (FAO). Salam brings over 16 years of experience in supporting community food systems and working with farmers. He has led several programs including Regional Coordinator for the FAO, leading their Agro-pastoral and Climate Change Adaption Field School Program, Regional natural resource Manager for an USAID program, consulting as a post-harvest specialist for AGRA program, and leading a Multisectoral team for Action Against Hunger. In his free time, Salam enjoys spending time with his wife and his two children.

Anais

Local Facilitator

Anais is a native of the city of Ziguinchor and has been working with health clinics gardens in the city since 2006. She enjoys working with the women and young people as part of her work as a facilitator with DIG and is respected for her knowledge and passion for vegetable garden. She is a mother of two girls.

Bay Ali

Local Facilitator

Baye Ali lives in Bignona where he is married and the father of 8. He has worked with several other NGO’s on agriculture projects in and around Ziguinchor. In his capacity as a facilitator, Baye Ali is a hands-on leader and well respected by trainees for his gardening knowledge and can do attitude.

Felix

Local Facilitator

Born and raised in the Casamance, Félix has a love of gardening and has been working in the community garden north of Ziguinchor in the town of Tabi where he was first introduced to DIG. In addition to his work as a trainer with DIG, he manages a half hectare garden of his own growing a wide variety of vegetables for sale and personal consumption.

Seckou

Lead Facilitator

Growing up just north of Ziguinchor, Seckou’s family are rice, bean and peanut farmers. After finishing school, he worked in Dakar but longed to return to the Casamance and returned to Ziguinchor with his wife and daughter. Since he is not formally trained in agriculture, he appreciates all of the training DIG offers to its trainers, both formal and on the job.

Cherif Aboubacar

Local Facilitator

Cherif is from Ziguinchor but has been working in the north of Senegal where he was in the Senegalese Army. After that he worked for five years at the Grand Domaine du Senegal, a garden nursery, where he was in charge of the composting operation. After recently moving to Ziguinchor, he joined DIG. He is married with 3 young boys.

News from the Field: Senegal


Community Transformation

Back to our Roots in Senegal

November 2, 2020

DIG's first seeds were sown in Senegal over a decade ago. Now, we're back, and we've seen those first seeds grow into leaders, businesses, and thriving communities. Learn how DIG continues to adapt the program to serve some of the world's most uniquely vulnerable people. See how they are not only finding household resilience but are contributing to their broader communities as well.

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Community Transformation

Adapting for Growth

August 4, 2020

In Senegal, DIG is adapting it's program to serve students who are blind, visually impaired and hearing impaired, and the students have cultivated more than we dreamed.

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Cocktails and Castoffs

MetroFresh’s 2020 DIG Garden ~ Ziguinchor, Senegal

June 30, 2020

In 2019 at a DIG Cocktails and Castoffs event, MetroFresh, a local Atlanta restaurant, encouraged their community to help sponsor a DIG garden in Senegal. They have previously sponsored a garden in Kenya and Uganda and this year they wanted to spread the seeds of transformation in Senegal. Their support has sustainably equipped 13 uniquely vulnerable families in the city of Ziguinchor, Senegal to become food secure, nutritionally rich, climate resilient, and economically secure. Here are some of the stories

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Food Security

Transitioning field schools to safe, socially distanced learning environments using the FAO’s Farmer Field School COVID Recommendations

June 16, 2020

In the Casamance region of Senegal, lies the second biggest city, Ziguinchor. Plagued with arid soils and an inescapably long dry season, the region largely relies on an import-based food system for a majority of their needs, including fruits and vegetables. With COVID-19 disrupting critical food distribution systems, DIG’s farmer field school network has been ramping up production to fill in the gaps. In 2019, Development in Gardening, with support from Rise Against Hunger, The University of Washington Senegal Research

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Community Transformation

Saphietu – First Time Gardener

June 4, 2020

I want to introduce you to one of the amazing women in our LAUNCH Program in Senegal, Saphiatu. Saphiatu lives in Ziguinchor. She and her husband have never held a formal job. He makes money doing odd jobs primarily around electrical work when he can find it. When money really gets desperate Saphiatu mixes a homemade bleach solution to sell in the local market. They have a 15-year-old daughter and they are also shouldering the burden of caring for their

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Community Transformation

Why Home Gardens are Important!

December 2, 2014

DIG first started doing home gardens in 2006 thanks to Koumba! While Koumba was being inspired by DIG’s training, we were being inspired by her.    It was she who asked for and received DIG’s first Home Garden. She asked if we could help her with some of the initial seed money to get a garden started in the small space behind her home. Koumba knew she could feed her family from this otherwise discarded space and would use her

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Program Partners


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Sensorial Handicap Cooporation

APRAN-SDP (Association pour la Promotion Rurale de l'arrondissement de Nyassia- Solidarité-Developpement-Paix)

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Ministry of Agriculture/Ziguinchor Région

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AJDK: Association des jeunes pour le Développement de Kande

Help Plant Seeds That Reap Life

Help Plant Seeds That Reap Life

With your support we can grow our capacity to equip uniquely vulnerable families with the skills and experience to meet their own needs and improve their well-being through gardening.

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Who We Are

  • DIG’s Mission
  • Staff
  • Board of Directors
  • Partners
  • Annual Reports
  • Contact

What We Do

  • Our History of Growth
  • The DIG Model
  • Senegal
  • Uganda
  • Kenya

Take Action

  • Donate
  • Shop DIG’s Gift Garden
  • Events
  • Cocktails & Castoffs
  • DIG Adventure Trips
  • Volunteer / Intern
  • Careers

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