The Minister of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Livestock, Mabouba Diagne, on Thursday received the photovoltaic solar field of the irrigated perimeter of Pont Gendarme, in the commune of Diama (Saint-Louis, north) , with an installed power of 46.2 kWp.
”It is with great pleasure that I preside today, on behalf of the Government of Senegal, over this inauguration ceremony of the photovoltaic solar field of the Pont Gendarme irrigated area, with an installed capacity of 46.2 kilowatt-peak (kWp), also coinciding with my first trip to the Senegal River Delta, in my capacity as Minister in charge of Agriculture and Livestock.“, he said at the ceremony.
The creation of this infrastructure, according to him, constitutes a giant step in the search for sustainable solutions, to the multiple constraints and challenges that partners and producers, in irrigated areas, face in the Senegal River valley.
The Resident Representative of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), Assani Magagi-Alio, thanked the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD), which made possible this 3 and a half year experience, to address the link between water, energy, climate change but also agriculture, in the Senegal River Valley.
The governor of the Saint-Louis region, Alioune Badara Sambe, the ambassador of Qatar to Senegal, Youssef Shaaban Ibrahim Al Sada, the Director General of the SAED, Aboubacry Sow, the mayor of the commune of Diama, Oumar Sow, enter other personalities took part in this inauguration ceremony.
This inauguration ceremony was preceded by field visits to the Senegal River Valley. They will continue until Sunday, June 30, 2024.
For the first stage of this tour in the Senegal River Valley, the Minister of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Livestock visited the Birane Boye farm, before going to the SOCAS factory, which specializes in tomato processing.
According to a note sent to the APS, this four-day tour will be an opportunity for the minister to inquire about the problems, but will also allow him to be in perfect contact with agricultural stakeholders in this area, which is strategic for food sovereignty.
The localities of Rao, Diawel, Ngnith, Mbane, Ndiol and Ross Béthio are the stages of this series of MASAE field visits.
The Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) has financed the implementation of an innovative project, addressing the water-energy, climate-agriculture nexus in twelve pilot sites in the Senegal River Delta, according to a presentation document for the said project.
Known as the Solar Irrigation Project for Climate Smart Agriculture, this initiative is a collaborative effort involving the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and of Livestock, the National Company for the development and exploitation of the lands of the Senegal River delta (SAED).
The same document also cited the Agricultural Bank of Senegal (LBA), the Sovereign Strategic Investment Fund of Senegal (FONSIS), the rice producers’ unions of the Senegal River Valley, as well as other key stakeholders in the research and development sector.
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