Canada announces new initiative to empower women and youth in Senegal

Adaptation and Valorization of Entrepreneurship in Irrigated Agriculture ($17.97 million over five years)

Implemented by Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA), this initiative will promote the use of innovative technologies and best practices in agriculture to encourage women and youth in Senegal to adopt climate-friendly agricultural and irrigations practices. This will help to improve the economic resilience of as many as 11,025 women and 4,725 youth from farming households, and to benefit 157,000 community members, in the Sédhiou and Tambacounda regions.

The project’s activities will include:

• creating public-private partnerships with financial institutions to increase women’s and youth’s access to funding and with private companies to buy innovative agricultural products;
• developing customized training programs for women and youth in financial management, business planning and adapting to climate change;
• conducting and disseminating market research to agricultural service providers on the needs of farming households led by women and youth; and
• facilitating the development of multi-stakeholder platforms for women and youth to facilitate dialogue around water resources management.