The department of Thiès has taken a historic step towards food self-sufficiency. This Tuesday, February 17, 2026, three members of the government, Dr. Serigne Gueye Diop (Trade and Industry), Dr. Mabouba Diagne (Agriculture) and Dr. Alioune Dione (Microfinance), laid the foundation stone for the project of storage and preservation infrastructure for horticultural products in Ngomène, in the commune of Keur Moussa.

This nationwide project aims to eradicate a major economic scourge: post-harvest losses, which currently consume between 30 and 40% of the country's horticultural production.

The initiative envisions a massive deployment of infrastructure across the country to reverse the trend of losses. The program boasts impressive figures: 10 strategic warehouses will be built within the 8 regional hubs, offering a total of 900,000 cubic meters of storage space. With a storage capacity of 250,000 tons, the project is expected to generate 2,300 direct and indirect jobs.

The ministers present reiterated a stark reality: "We continue to lose more than a third of our harvests" due to a lack of adequate cooling infrastructure. This loss is estimated at nearly 100 billion CFA francs annually, forcing Senegal to import 67 billion CFA francs worth of fruits and vegetables.

The lack of a cold chain currently forces producers into a race against time before their products naturally spoil. By installing these cold storage facilities in high-production areas like the Niayes region, the government aims to establish a sustainable economic model.

According to the authorities, thanks to modern storage, the products will retain their initial quality after harvest, thus transforming this "vicious circle with recurring annual systematic losses into a virtuous circle of national wealth creation."