Establishing African Youth in Irrigation Areas in a Context of Liberalization and Public-Private Partnerships: The Case of Young Farmers in the Senegal River Delta
This article analyzes different approaches to establishing rural youth in irrigation areas in the Senegal River delta in the context of new hydro-agricultural developments and massive land acquisitions by agrobusiness. Government-led irrigation projects introduced in the 1960s distributed free 0.2-hectare plots of land to young workers from the surrounding region. However, in the 1980s, Senegal took a liberal turn that led to a shift from public-sector to private-sector initiatives. As a result, young workers, who often lack the means necessary to acquire land, have found it much more challenging to pursue farming in irrigation areas. Since 2006, few young farmers have acquired any of the 5,000 hectares of new irrigated farmland developed through programs based on the public-private partnership model. At the same time, agro-industry growth has provided young people with many temporary and precarious employment opportunities. Based on surveys of farmers and agricultural workers in the Senegal River delta, we show how young people find it increasingly difficult to acquire land or secure adequate employment in the agricultural sector. In addition, we demonstrate that access to irrigated land, as opposed to salaried agricultural work, represents the most effective strategy for poverty reduction.