As agropoles become one of Senegal's flagship economic projects, their expected impact extends far beyond mere agro-industrial transformation. For Ousseynou Konaté, coordinator of the Agropole Sud project, these regional platforms represent a major lever, particularly for reducing post-harvest losses.

 

Invited to the Seneweb Eco program on Tuesday, November 18, he points out that "30 to 40% of production is lost" due to a lack of units capable of processing harvests near agricultural areas.

 

The establishment of agropoles as close as possible to production basins should reverse this trend by stabilizing incomes and improving the profitability of the sectors, with the objective of food sovereignty in mind.

 

These infrastructures are indeed intended to strengthen the country's capacity to feed its population through its own production. And to supply these new units, a significant increase in volumes will be necessary. "In order to supply our processing units, we are forced to increase our production by 40%. And de facto, we solve the problem of food sovereignty," he explains.

 

The establishment of agropoles should also contribute to reducing unemployment. Ousseyou Konaté emphasizes that by retaining added value at the local level, these platforms will create a wide range of jobs—production, processing, maintenance, logistics—while strengthening rural incomes. “We recruit our young people locally, we train them, and they stay here,” he insists.

 

This economic ambition is reflected in the scale of the funding mobilized. According to the coordinator of the Agropole Sud project, the country's five agropoles represent "an average of 500 billion" in public investments, to which are added "more than 300 billion" in expected private investments.

 

The Central and Southern agropoles must be operational by 2026. Their performance will determine the expansion to other areas. "From 2029, the deployment will be effective," says Ousseynou Konaté, "but as early as 2027, if it's operational, we can start."