Sokone - Senegal
Hedgerow
In Sokone, Senegal, Reforest'Action has joined forces with the Senegalese social enterprise SOPREEF and the French company Kinomé to develop agroforestry among rural populations, and the creation of sustainable economic sectors based on quality vegetable oils.
2012 - 2013
Financé
In the Saloum region, two main factors of pressure on the forests have been responsible for the degradation of natural resources for many years: energy and agriculture. The project area is part of the groundnut production basin. This exploitation has degraded the soil and led to a specialization of the rural economy. Today, however, peanut production can no longer solve farmers' financial problems. Farmers need to diversify their agricultural production channels with viable alternatives to secure and increase their incomes. As far as energy is concerned, the consumption of firewood exceeds the production capacity of trees and shrubs. Forests are therefore overexploited, and the region is heavily dependent on the forests of Casamance for its population's access to energy.
The project has several components: planting trees for multiple uses in agroforestry, developing a vegetable oil industry, and raising awareness of forest issues and protection. The planting of trees such as mango, jatropha, lemon, eucalyptus and moringa in Senegal requires the establishment of a major technical and logistical ecosystem, from the creation of nurseries to the recruitment of forestry technicians. Villagers are the main players in this project, and the primary beneficiaries of its activities. An awareness-raising program has also been set up in the region's elementary school, focusing on environmental education and local development issues.
