Local and Regional Food Aid Procurement Project in Senegal

CHALLENGE

In Senegal, the agricultural sector employs approximately 70% of the working population, yet in 2017 its contribution to total GDP was just over 16%. In the same year, persistent droughts resulted in 17% of children under the age of five suffering from chronic malnutrition. Stunting, wasting, and malnutrition have long-term negative effects on human development. Counterpart’s LRP program aims to complement the McGovern-Dole Food for Education Suukabe Janngo program by procuring and supplying local commodities to schools – ultimately combating the negative health impacts resulting from the drought and other complications plaguing Senegal’s agricultural sector.

PROMISE

Counterpart International is currently implementing two USDA funded projects in Saint Louis, Senegal: the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition project (McGovern-Dole) and the Local and Regional Food Aid procurement project (LRP). Both projects support the overarching goal of ensuring that School Management Committees can serve as a sustainable pathway to Community Led School Feeding, even after support from McGovern-Dole comes to an end. Through LRP, Counterpart intends to ensure the sustainability of the McGovern-Dole supported schools through a graduation strategy which will incorporate the local procurement of millet and cowpeas. The program will work to:

• INCREASE the capacity of schools and the government to effectively procure local commodities to supply school feeding programs;
• STRENGTHEN Producer Groups’ ability to provide high quality, nutritious commodities and connect them to school feeding programs;
• IMPROVE nutrition of students by increasing access to and use of various high quality, nutritious, and culturally appropriate foods in school meal; and
• PROCURE cowpea and millet, and support the ability of the local community to produce orange flesh sweet potatoes and mung beans for purchase by schools as a part of providing balanced school meals.

IMPACT

The Transition d’Alimentation dans les Cantines Scolaires au Sénégal (TACSS) will support the Suukabe Janngo program in the Saint-Louis region by providing:

• 975 MT of millet procured through USDA assistance
• 397 MT of cowpeas procured through USDA assistance

By the end of the program, TACCS intends to have served:

• 57,450 individuals who will be direct beneficiaries of USDA food security programs
• 253,664 individuals who will be indirectly benefitting from USDA food security programs
• 33,392 people participating in safety nets through USDA assistance