U.S. African Development Foundation Signs Agreement with Senegal to Support Agricultural Growth

On November 24, 2014, the U.S. African Development Foundation (USADF) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Senegal, each of them committing to invest $500,000 annually over the next five years to support the country’s goals for sustainable agricultural growth.

The agreement also launches a new program, called Yes AgSen, which will assist Senegalese youth groups, smallholder farmer cooperatives and agribusinesses to increase productivity and diversify production into higher-value crops where appropriate. The program will be based on USADF’s successful model of working with local partners to build organizational, managerial, financial and technical capacities of small agro-processing and food producer groups.

USADF has led a robust program in Senegal since 1986 and currently manages a portfolio of approximately $2 million in development projects throughout the country. Most of these projects focus on food security and many work with women’s cooperatives.

The new commitment with the Government of Senegal advances country-owned development and food security priorities and contributes to the goals of the Feed the Future initiative. USADF strategic partnerships like this one help leverage additional development resources by matching U.S. investments with host country government funding.