Combating soil salinity for sustainable rice production in Senegal

As part of the Saline Water & Food Systems Partnership Seed Money Facility, three projects were launched in 2024 across Bangladesh, Senegal, and Mozambique. This article presents the key outcomes of the Integrated Soil Salinity Management in Rice-Based Systems of the Senegal River Valley (ISSM4RICE) project, led by AfricaRice and MetaMeta. The full report is available via this link.

Addressing soil salinity for greater agricultural resilience

Soil salinisation is a major challenge in Senegal’s rice-growing regions, severely impacting productivity and food security. The ISSM4RICE initiative, supported by the Netherlands Water Partnership and the Netherlands Food Partnership (NFP), aimed to enhance awareness, knowledge, and capacity-building among farmers and agricultural extension agents.

The project was structured around three core work packages:

Farmer Field Schools (FFS): Over 260 farmers and 90 extension agents participated in hands-on training across four villages (Ndiaye, Thilène, Ngao, and Mboundoum), testing salt-tolerant rice varieties combined with nutrient management strategies (gypsum, zinc, and potassium).
Knowledge Co-Creation: A comprehensive knowledge product was developed, including eight French-language manuals covering salinity evaluation, prevention, mitigation, and adaptation strategies. These were disseminated via MetaMeta’s Water Channel.
Capacity Strengthening: Training sessions combined theory with practical field excursions, equipping farmers and extension agents with tools to diagnose, manage, and adapt to soil salinization.

Capacity building in the ISSM4RICE initiative

Paving the way for food security

The project highlighted the importance of combining agronomic measures with improved water management and community-based solutions. It also underscored the need for better infrastructure, governance, and financial support to scale up salinity management practices. The collaboration fostered stronger ties between Dutch and Senegalese partners, paving the way for continued joint efforts to combat salinisation and enhance food security in the region.

Saline Water & Food Systems

Saline Water & Food Systems (SW&FS) is a multi-stakeholder partnership that stimulates collaboration between the Dutch water and agrifood sectors to address the challenge of salinity in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). The partnership consists of knowledge institutes, diverse members of the business community such as innovative SMEs, and experts operating on the ground. It is supported by the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature, and Food Quality.