Senegal rural women drive agricultural production and empowerment

In rural Senegal, particularly in the Linguère and Kaffrine regions, women play a central role in agricultural production and household food security. In Linguère, women maintain the ancestral tradition of artisanal peanut oil transformation. This process involves manual techniques such as shelling, sorting, roasting, and grinding seeds into paste, followed by hot kneading to separate the oil from the protein-rich cake used for animal feed.

While some mechanical presses are beginning to improve oil quality, many women still rely on traditional methods. This activity serves as a vital economic lever, allowing women to form cooperatives and access microcredits to foster empowerment. However, significant challenges remain, including difficulties with productivity, sanitary quality, and market access.

Broadly across Senegal, women are essential to tasks such as sowing, weeding, harvesting, and marketing. Despite their contributions, they face systemic inequalities, including limited access to land ownership and a lack of financial resources or machinery to scale agro-food transformation activities.