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Pikine (Dakar - Senegal)Introduction: City context The city of Pikine is located in the Niayes region, at 15km from the capital city Dakar. It was created in 1952 by the colonial power to relocate the disaster victims of Dakar. As the results of a territorial reform and decentralisation process, in October 1990 the Pikine sub-district was created. Pikine is characterized by the agglomeration of traditional villages, established settlements as well as a number of irregular settlements, mostly located in flood prone areas, where housing is officially forbidden.
The city of Pikine has a population of over 1 million inhabitants with 47.8% below 15 years of age and 81 % below 35 years. The annual population growth rate is 4.8%. The population density is 14 538 h/km2 (1998). It is now the second largest city in Senegal after the capital Dakar, in terms of population and financial resources. Niayes Valley The grand Niaye of Dakar/Pikine covers an area of 4 800 ha and is the «green lung of the region». It is limited on the north and south by the Atlantic Ocean, in the west by the Hann park forest and the Khar Yalla district, in the east by Thiaroye Gare and the Diacksaw and Tivaouane districts.
The Gran Niaye of Dakar/Pikine is part of the Niayes Valley that stretches 450 km wide along the coast between Dakar and St. Louis. The Valley has a climate particularly beneficial to the development of many plant and animal productions. It comprises a succession of dunes, basins and inter-dunal depressions through which the waters of quaternary sand layers flow. The zone also accommodates a huge biological diversity (fauna and flora), which gives it a certain scientific, environmental and economic interest. Most important types of urban agriculture in the city A diversity of agricultural activities -either individually or collectively- are carried out in the grand Niaye, especially vegetable gardening, but also floriculture and fishing. Also fruit and vegetable processing is taking place. The majority of the farmers are men (72.2%) while 21.8% of them are women. The surface area of the plots is between 1 ha and 7.5 ha. Most of the plots (75.9%) are acquired through inheritance and 20.7% through purchasing. Of the farmers in this area, 35.8% are tenants and 52.8% are owners but only 3.4% have a title deed. The zone is threatened by both urban development and saline intrusion. Over the last 30 years, the portion of the Niayes zone in Dakar has shrunk by 56 ha (10%). (IFAN- ENDA RUP, Mid-field investigation report on phase II of the project dubbed Treatment of health risks linked to the use of waste water in urban agriculture in Dakar - Senegal” ).
Multi-stakeholder Policymaking and Action planning on urban agriculture (MPAP) on urban agriculture in Pikine Within the activities of the RUAF Cities Farming for the Future Programme, a Technical Assistance Committee was set up in order to facilitate the implementation of the MPAP process. The following institutions are taking part in this Committee, supported by the RUAF affiliated regional NGO IAGU (Institut Africain de Gestion Urbaine) and coordinated by the Director of the Technical Services Authority of Pikine City:
Before the setting up of the Committee, several meetings have been organised to sensitize the stakeholders about the programme and to get their commitment to participate actively in its implementation. A Training of Trainers workshop was organised from 3 to 12 of October 2005, followed by an MPAP training organised in December 2005 for 15 local participants from NGOs, research institutes and the local government, as well as 3 representatives from other cities in the region. The Technical Assistance Committee was responsible for implementation of an exploratory study on Urban Agriculture in Pikine that included a characterisation of UA activities in Pikine, an analysis of the institutional and legal framework related to UA in Pikine and an assessment of environmental and social impacts of UA. Results of the exploratory study were presented on 24-25 January 2006 to a multi-stakeholder forum, during which priority constraints to future UA development were identified and working groups formed to further develop related action plans. Main constraints identified include (among others):
A second Forum meeting was organised on 28 June 2006 to share the results of the work of the working groups with all stakeholders and to prioritise the actions and pilot projects to be implemented. Development strategies A City Action Plan was thus developed, prioritizing actions regarding:
In this context, and by the end of 2007, the following activities have been implemented by the Pikine stakeholders:
In 2008 a “Political orientation document” should be formulated and shared with the (new) municipal council (as elections are planned for March 2008) regarding the institutionalization of a municipal urban agriculture programme and the inclusion of UA in the municipal budget. Examples of ongoing projects A pilot project has been formulated in consultation with the Pikine urban producers organization PROVANIA. As stated above, the pilot project specifically aims to improve the producers’ access to inputs and farming equipment and to set up a rotating group saving scheme. Seeds, fertilizers and pesticides will be provided at low cost to the farmers’ organization, which on its turn will provide these inputs to their members in form of credit. Likewise, farm equipment will be provided to the organization for rental to their members. The organization can thus slowly build up a financial base and rotating fund. The organization will also be supported in development of internal procedures for management of such a fund. Results of the pilot project, as well as of other activities identified in the City Strategic Agenda, will be presented to the Multi-Stakeholder Forum in 2008, in order to give further follow-up to or revise the Action Plan where necessary. Linkages to regional websites, key documents, photos, maps etc. Other examples of Urban Agriculture in Senegal: For more information on the RUAF-Cities Farming for the Future Programme in the region, contact the regional coordinator at RUAF West-Africa (Francophone) or see their website Click here to return to the worldmap.  ( categories: )
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