Bignona, members of peasant organizations and activists of agro-ecological practice launched the plea for secure access to land, to develop healthy agriculture, respectful of intoxication, and move towards food security in this vast department of the Ziguinchor region. This advocacy workshop follows a long process initiated within this department with several communities, to reflect on food issues based on agroecology.

For Malamine Sané, head of the Bignona DYTAEL, this plea seeks to encourage decision-makers, mayors of the communes, and the president of the departmental council to support the DYTAEL. The goal is to succeed in its mission, which is to "ensure a measure of food security by 2035 in the Bignona department."

Dr. Sidy Tounkara, a researcher at the Rural Agricultural Prospective Initiative (IPAR), says that the vision behind this agro-ecological dynamic is to make Bignona "an eco-sustainable showcase."

According to the latter, the main difficulty in the area is the issue of agricultural succession. To achieve this, it is imperative to review the conditions of access to land and in a secure manner, the researcher insisted. "Land is the basis of agroecology. Without land, we cannot talk about agroecology. Therefore, there are a lot of activities of this kind that exist, on which the territorial authorities must act, without forgetting the themes of food, health and demography. Because agroecology also means thinking about healthy food," indicated Dr. Tounkara.

For his part, the President of the Bignona Departmental Council, affirmed his desire to advocate with local elected officials to ensure this dynamic transition to agroecology at the departmental level.

"The departmental council will fully play its role of raising awareness and advocating with the relevant authorities, since if we analyse the situation carefully, we see that several ministries are involved, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of the Environment, but also the Ministry of Commerce," declared Souleymane Goudiaby.