Saint-Louis, January 16 (APS) – The Minister of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Livestock, Mabouba Diagne, promised, Thursday, in Saint-Louis (north), to find a solution to the debt amounting to 9 billion CFA francs contracted over the past three years by producers in the Senegal River valley (north) to finance their rice activities.
Because of the floods which ravaged their fields, they were unable to pay it, according to the president of the Interprofessional Rice Committee (Ciriz), Ousseynou Ndiaye.
”We will find a solution to this debt of 9 billion but you will have to respect your word,” said Mr. Diagne, addressing their representative, the president of Ciriz.
The latter informed the minister of the difficulty in paying the debt, on the occasion of the official opening ceremony of the national rice growing conference, organized by the Delta and Falémé Land Development Company and Ciriz .
”We will resolve this problem. We think you will never be able, without this, to achieve food sovereignty,” assured Mabouba Diagne, inviting producers to commit to respecting their commitment.
He expressed the hope that producers would show him, at the end of the meeting, the way forward to increase productivity, without which food sovereignty would not be possible.
Mr. Diagne considers that agriculture and livestock breeding must be considered a priority. ”The authorities […] are aware of it,” he said.
-The Minister of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Livestock recalled the constraints on the production of rice, the high consumption of which implies foreign currency outflows contributing to unbalancing the country’s trade balance.
The president of Ciriz welcomed the commitment made by the minister on the need to find a solution to the debt of producers to the banks.
Ousseynou Ndiaye invited the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Livestock to find a solution to the invasion of migratory birds and the risks of flooding which, according to him, often harm production.
Mathieu Bosc, from the water, agriculture and climate department at the French Development Agency, assured Mabouba Diagne and the rice farmers of the Senegal river valley of the availability of the structure he represents to support the food sovereignty policy of the Senegal.
The national rice growing conference, which will last three days, will result in “strong recommendations” with a view to achieving food sovereignty, according to the organizers.
These recommendations will, they say, be a contribution from Ciriz to the “Senegal 2050” program, the country’s development program.
