Transformation
The processing rate of agricultural products in Senegal is less than 30%, as revealed on Thursday by the director of small and medium industries at the Ministry of Industrial Development and Small and Medium Industries, Eladji Djily Mbaye Lo.
“Senegal has great potential in agriculture. But this potential remains insufficiently exploited. We have a low rate of transformation of agricultural products […]. In Senegal, the processing rate of agricultural products is less than 30%,'' he pointed out.
He was speaking on the sidelines of a regional development committee (RDC) focused on the presentation of the agropole center project to agricultural actors in the Kaffrine region.
Chaired by the Deputy Governor of Kaffrine in charge of administrative affairs, Abou Bâ, the meeting recorded the presence of local elected officials, administrative authorities and department heads.
“The agropole project consists of establishing a link between the agricultural sector and industry. He wants agriculture and industry to be the engines of development in Senegal,” explained Eladji Djily Mbaye Lo, coordinator of the agropole project coordination unit.
“We are going to work on the processing of agricultural products to reduce imports of agri-food products which weigh on the country’s trade balance. We will also add value to Senegal's exports,” he continued.
He indicated that Senegal has worked to relaunch the agropole center project and its implementation, ''after the establishment of the southern agropole which received funding from technical and financial partners, such as the African Development Bank and the Islamic Development Bank''.
"We are going to make a participatory structuring of this agropole project", said the director of small and medium industries.
He recalled that the priority sectors that will be included in this project are, among others, cereals, salt and milk.
He specifies that the cost of the agropole center project will amount to more than 170 billion CFA francs. He points out that Belgian technical cooperation has already invested 15 billion CFA francs in the project.
“This meeting made it possible to inform the actors of the Kaffrine region of the objectives of the project but also of the different stages, namely the feasibility studies, the structuring workshops, among others”, explained Eladji Djily Mbaye Lo.
“We want the players in the region to prepare for the establishment of the agropole and to be able to accommodate the infrastructure. These actors will train the populations, so that they can make the most of the opportunities that the agropole will offer, ”he added.
According to Eladji Djily Mbaye Lo, the agropole project will generate more than 14,000 direct jobs in the central area, more than 35,000 indirect jobs and will affect more than two million people in all.
He invited local authorities in the Kaffrine region to be more committed to its success.