Yield Gap Assessment in Senegal and Senegal River Valley: Factors Affecting the Yield Gap and Postharvest Activities Impact on its Improvement

Abstract

Senegalese agriculture relies mainly on seasonal production activities marked with low productivity. This contributes to high dependency on imports as far as food self-sufficiency is concerned. This dependency on cereal imports, primarily of rice, wheat and maize has increased gradually due to their low incentive to produce comparison with cash crops (e.g., peanut and cotton), inappropriate policies and failures in improving agricultural productivity. Domestic agricultural production of cereals in Senegal covers approximately 40% of the country’s demand. And it is characterized by a low level of fertilizer application and low accessibility of inputs such as seeds and fertilizer. Reflecting these obstacles, the dependency of rice and maize on imports in Senegal reaches up to 80% and 50%, respectively. At the country level, the gap between current and potential yield is estimated to be 49.75% and 79.75% for rice and maize production, respectively. But in the Senegal River Valley, these yield gaps are less severe; they are 37.9% and 58.8% respectively. These yield gaps are caused by biophysical, socio-economic and institutional factors. Among them, problems associated with harvest and postharvest hindrances need to be addressed. And, as domestic financial support for loosening up these constraints is not easy because of a lack of financial capacity of government and farmers, one must look for financial support from overseas. Without funding from outside, many governmental agricultural projects targeting to boost up domestic agricultural production are under danger of failure.