Photo 3: Storage warehouse (977 m3) rehabilitated in Senegal for the Ajac Lukaal cooperative. Photo credit Rassoul Diop of Shelter For Life

Linking Infrastructure, Finance, and Farms to Cashew (LIFFT)

Food for Progress Senegal-Factsheet

Improving Infrastructure

84 km of rural agriculture feeder roads constructed or rehabilitated, linking more than 50 villages to markets
1,512 cash for work laborers employed
8 storages rehabilitated (7,609 m3) for 6 Cooperatives
1 new storage (720 m3) constructed

Increasing Cashew Nut Production and Quality

9,205 farmers trained on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) at 7 demonstration plots
8,510 farmers applied GAP on 16,884 ha of cashew plantations
Cashew farmer census conducted for 11,905 farmers, including 2,165 women
513 farmers certified in organic cashew production
18 nurserymen trained and supported with equipment; 4 modern shade structures and 24 chainsaws granted for pruning
68,150 improved cashew seedlings produced to support reforestation and plantation renewal, including 40,500 trees planted in the new cashew producing region in Fatick
40 kg of seed and scions of new varieties imported from Vietnam; multiplication underway with the ISRA research institute and accredited nurseries.

11 Cooperatives established or reinforced, including 3,434 members (initial stage of establishment).
408 Cooperative management staff received training on capacity building, administration and financial management, member management, and services development.
24 scales provided (8:1 ton and 16: 200 kg), office furniture (16 sets of tables, chairs, and cabinets), and IT kits (6 sets of computers, printers and internet modems) granted
16 cashew transportation means (8 motorcycles and 8 tricycles) granted to support RCN collection
3,295 jute bags provided for post-harvest cashew nut quality retention
24,759 MT collected by cooperatives members (passive and active) between 2020 to 2022.

$ 2,212,973 in financial transactions and micro-finance loans to cooperatives and members
104 women from two cooperatives financed for market gardening through the credit scoring activity
22 commercial contracts signed; linking buyers and cooperatives
$831,579 loaned in 2022 by the Cashew Fund to 5 processors in the SeGaBi region; used to purchase of 894.83 MT from Cooperatives for a value of $691,383
$550,000 loaned to two processors in Senegal in 2023 through the Cashew Fund
Establishment of a Senegal cashew sector Steering Committee to influence policy
Warehouse receipt system (WRS) pilot being trialed Cooperatives; 808 MT was stocked in 2022
Food Safety Regulation for Cashew Processing Companies in Senegal at concept note stage
Diagnostic study on Cross-border trade of RCN and the establishment of Single Cashew Market in SeGaBi underway

Development of Cashew Market Information System & Indicator Management System
2,057 cashew farms mapped and georeferenced to facilitate organic certification for farmers
7,052 people accessing cashew market data through social media networks and the project website

Funding for the LIFFT-Cashew project provided by the Food for Progress Program of the United States Department of Agriculture