The government of Senegal launched the "Village reafforestation in the north-west groundnut basin" project (PREVINOBA) in 1986. The project is supervised by the Ministry of Rural Development and Water (MRDW) and comes under the responsibility of WFHSCD. It receives financial support from the Kingdom of the Netherlands and technical support from FAO. It aims to find solutions to the serious ecological imbalance in the area of the groundnut basin, the country's most favourable zone for the principal cash crop.
Deforestation, abandonment of the practice of land fallowing and repeated rainfall deficit have led to serious wind and water erosion followed by a fall of at least 50% in yields. At the same time, the population has faced a shortage of fire- and utility wood, and a precarious water supply due to the drying up of numerous wells during the dry season.
Deforestation, abandonment of the practice of land fallowing and repeated rainfall deficit have led to serious wind and water erosion followed by a fall of at least 50% in yields. At the same time, the population has faced a shortage of fire- and utility wood, and a precarious water supply due to the drying up of numerous wells during the dry season.
The project intervention area, concentrated in the north-west groundnut basin, covers the departments of Tivaouane and Thiès, with a population of 658,862 inhabitants (291,672 in Tivaouane and 367,190 in Thies). Average population density is 82 inhabitants per sq.km. The population of Tivaouane is mainly Wolof, Muslim and strongly influenced by the religious character of the area which is the main centre of Senegal's Tidjania brotherhood. The population of Thiès is Sérère and Christian.
The seasonal rural exodus has become general practice over the last 20 or so years. Men leave their villages at the end of the farming season and only return for family or important religious occasions. As a result, women are the stable representatives of the project. It should also be noted that the land belongs to men. However, women have easy access to exploit it for their own needs, though at modest levels.
PREVINOBA is now in its third phase. The aim of the first phase (1986-1989) was to better re-establish the importance of trees in the maintenance of ecological equilibrium by:
· improving and maintaining soil fertility;
· integrating trees into the agrarian system;
· improving forest product supplies.
From the outset, the project opted for an effective strategy of popular involvement. Thus its objectives called for:
· the design and implementation of a programme to increase the awareness, mobilization and education of populations;
· a contribution to the planning of a rural area exploited in a rational and integrated manner (agricultural, pastoral and forestry speculation);
· a contribution to the institutional reinforcement of the forestry service and the training of officers.
The participatory dynamic of dialogue and exchange with the population, as well as the results obtained during the first phase, highlighted the fact that the concerns of people in terms of forestry go beyond the simple framework of rural forestry. The second phase of the project (1989-1995) provided the opportunity to situate the question of reintroducing trees into the agricultural system within the larger framework of land management. As a result, PREVINOBA put the emphasis on drawing up a land development and management plan (LDMP) whose programme activities reconcile people's interests, policy orientations in the sector, restoration and conservation of the environment, and improved production with the concept of sustainable development.
PREVINOBA has reinforced its strategy of partnership by turning more and more to participatory methods and tools. Within an increasingly favourable institutional context, WFHSCD moved toward ever wider use of the participatory approach. In fact, the important experience of PREVINOBA in this field has stimulated national reflection and decision-making in this sense.
The current phase (1995-1999) puts the emphasis on consolidating the lessons learnt, extending activities in the department of Thiès and setting up a working system of follow-up analysis. It also aims at a balanced opening up of the project for eventual take-over by farmers' organizations, governmental structures and NGOs.
