Youth in peanut production in Senegal
PI
Bradford Mills, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics
Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24060
bfmills@vt.edu
Co-PIs
Genti Kostandini, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics
University of Georgia, Griffin, GA
gentik@uga.edu
Pierre Maurice Diatta, Consultant, Senegal
pierre@vt.edu
Retaining next generation farmers in the Senegalese groundnut basin
Area of inquiry: Gender & Youth
Country focus: Senegal
Project length: 3 years
Total budget: $350,000
Despite the strong historic emphasis on groundnut production in central and western Senegal, the sector has been stagnant in recent years as climatic variability and uncertainty in policies have generated a risky production environment. This production environment has also reduced incentives for young adults to enter into groundnut production, which threatens the long-run viability of peanut production.
The project explores climatic and land-tenure constraints to youth participation in the Senegalese groundnut sector and evaluates the feasibility of technology and policy options to address constraints.
Four key hypothesis drive the proposed research.
1) Youth participation is a key to future viability of the Senegalese groundnut sector.
2) Youth will choose groundnut farming if the sector contributes to a viable livelihood strategy.
3) Reducing production and land tenure risks are essential for increasing the viability of groundnut production as a household livelihood strategy.
4) Technical and policy options exist to reduce groundnut production risk and land tenure risk for the next generation of Senegalese farmers.
