Similar to other countries in the Sahel region, Senegal’s indigenous food production is hampered by lack of moisture and sandy soils low in organic matter. Soil erosion and degradation threaten large areas of farm land. In central Senegal’s groundnut basin, the low-lying area between the Ferlo and Gambia rivers, the soil’s capacity to retain nutrients and moisture has been severely reduced after years of inappropriate agricultural practices, including tillage techniques, monocropping, and chemical input misuse. The few soil nutrients that do exist are often not available to plants due to high soil acidity or diverted by competing weeds. As a result, farm productivity has been steadily declining over much of the region.