Why Senegal wants to reduce its peanut exports

In the peanut basin of Senegal, which extends from Louga (north) to Kaolack (central-west), when the rainy season ends, between mid-October and early November, the peanut harvest begins. For the 27% of Senegalese households that grow it, this is a crucial period. The marketing phase continues, which should begin in November, just after the State has set a minimum price. But this year everything in this process has been delayed.

At the end of October, the government decided to suspend, as of November 15, exports of peanut seeds for the 2024-2025 campaign, with the objective “to prevent exports from competing with local marketing”according to the Ministry of Agriculture. A measure that worries farmers. “The debate is everywhere under the trees of talk”explains Babacar Ndiaye, a farmer of several hectares of peanuts and millet in the town of Djilor, in Sine Saloum.

For many producers, exports are the only source of income. Firstly, because local oil producers, including the National Oilseed Marketing Society of Senegal (Sonacos), do not have the capacity to collect all peanut production and process it. Of the 1.7 million tons of peanuts produced each year, Sonacos and its three private competitors can only absorb a maximum of 500,000 tons.

In addition, a kilo of peanuts pays much better in export than in the local market. For the 2023-2024 season, the price per kilo was set at 280 CFA francs (0.42 euros). “Where importers offered prices between 300 and 500 francs per kilo”indicates Babacar Ndiaye. Since an agreement was signed with Dakar in 2014, China is by far the first among them, ahead of India, with almost 300,000 tonnes of Senegalese peanuts imported in 2023.

“The sector has a serious lack of organization”

This once lucrative Chinese deal ultimately backfired on the local market. “We went through years in which Sonacos could no longer obtain sufficient supply of peanuts », says Babacar Diallo, technical assistant of the network of peasant and pastoral organizations of Senegal, which brings together nearly 50,000 farmers. So much so that certain factories of the national oil producer ended up ending part of their activities.

Since the 2010s and the liberalization of the sector by President Abdoulaye Wade (2000-2010), many farmers and collectors ended up refusing to work with Sonacos, according to Babacar Diallo. “Their payment method is very slow, it can take weeks, whereas with exporters they pay us when the truck is loaded.continues farmer Babacar Ndiaye. They also impose burdens, including a reduction tied to peanut quality assessment. But many farmers denounce subjective measurement and abusive reductions. »

However, the Chinese importers ended up being accused of “unfair competition”. “The sector has a great lack of organization, which has benefited themobserves Habib Thiam, president of the Collective of Peanut Seed Producers and Exporters (Copega). The Chinese even harvested peanuts directly from the field, with their own Chinese workers and shelling machines, leaving aside Senegalese labor. »

Another major problem for Senegal: the quality of its peanut seeds. “For years we have been exporting our best seeds, including those that are certified and that we must keep to replant the following year, because the Chinese and Indians have quality requirements.” underlines Habib Thiam. In other words, many Senegalese farmers find themselves with seeds of declining nutritional quality, since the best ones were sold abroad years ago.

A slightly high minimum price

Given the concern of the peanut world and after several days of consultations, the Minister of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Livestock, Mabouba Diagne, softened his announcements. “It is a precautionary measure and not definitiveexplains to World. Today we say that only after having obtained the tons of certified seeds for the following year and the supply from Senegalese oil producers can peanuts be exported. »

Under the direction of its new CEO, Elhadji Ndane Diagne, appointed in May, Sonacos factories in Dakar, Ziguinchor, Diourbel and Louga have returned to operation in recent weeks. “We will not leave any farmer without selling seeds, even if this exceeds our industrial capabilities,” he promises. On Tuesday, November 26, the authorities finally revealed the minimum price of peanuts for the 2024-2025 season, set at 305 CFA francs, an increase of 25 francs compared to 2023.

“In view of the closure of borders and the floods that have affected numerous crops, this price is a disappointment, it is not enough”explains Babacar Ndiaye. And to warn: “ If the State does not redouble its efforts, it is possible that there will be no seeds this year. », adding that many producers are willing to block their sales if they do not obtain satisfaction.