In Senegal, agriculture supports the livelihoods of many family farmers. Corporate and industrial agriculture is developing in areas with access to irrigation and Dakar's main urban and export markets.

Since 2003, the government has stimulated the development of irrigation in strategic areas in order to reduce cereal deficits such as rice. The Senegal River basin delta is of strategic importance for the irrigated production of rice, vegetables and other food crops, and is the pilot area chosen for the KnoWat project.

The water sector in the Senegal River Delta faces many challenges that affect the sustainability of water resources, including competition and conflict between users, overexploitation of groundwater, insufficient infrastructure and lack of clarity of access rights. In addition, there is an increase in extreme weather events such as floods and droughts, exacerbated by climate change. In rural areas, poverty and food insecurity remain high.

Project area

The KnoWat project focuses on the Senegal River Basin, an area of strategic importance for the irrigated production of rice, vegetables and other food crops.

Due to multiple challenges, such as climate change, population growth and increasing food needs, there have been significant deficits in cereal production, especially rice, in recent years. To reduce these deficits, the government started to promote irrigation development in the basin in 2003.