In September 2009, the U.S. Government's Millennium Challenge Corporation and the Government of the Republic of Senegal signed a $540 million Compact, aimed at reducing poverty and increase economic growth by unlocking the country’s agricultural productivity and expanding access to markets and services. The two primary Compact projects, Roads Rehabilitation and Irrigation and Water Resource Management, are strategically investing in the road network and essential irrigation schemes and are geographically focused in the Senegal River Valley in the north and the Casamance region in the south. The Compact priorities were identified to align to the country’s comprehensive long-term objectives of enhancing national growth and food security.
- Original Amount at Compact Signing:
$540000000 - Amount spent:
$433318473
-
Signed:
September 16, 2009 -
Entry Into Force:
September 23, 2010 -
Closed:
September 23, 2015
Project Results
Irrigation and Water Resource Management Project
-
$170,008,860
Original Compact Project Amount -
$165,894,586
Total Disbursed
Estimated Benefits
Time | Estimated Economic Rate of Return (ERR) over 20 years | Estimated beneficiaries over 20 years | Estimated net benefits over 20 years |
---|---|---|---|
Not specified | 260,000 | $345,000,000 |
Project Description
MCC is working with the Government of Senegal via this Project to improve the productivity of the agricultural sector by extending and improving the quality of the irrigation system in the Senegal River Delta and the Department of Podor (at the Ngalenka irrigated perimeter). This Project has strategically invested in irrigation schemes designed to increase rural incomes and employment and to enhance the competitiveness of the rural economies in the Senegal River Valley, Senegal’s rice production heartland. The project is anticipated to safeguard and expand production on irrigated land in the Valley’s Delta area and develop an irrigated perimeter in Ngalenka. It is also addressing long-standing land tenure constraints by formalizing the farmers’ land rights, enabling a secure legal framework for continued investment.
- The Delta Project is upgrading and rehabilitating the main canal and drainage system in order to increase the volume of irrigable water, expand cropping intensity, and secure use of land currently at risk of abandonment due to soil salinization and insufficient flows. This will allow farmers to expand their rice, tomatoes and onions cultivation on an additional 7,800 hectares and increase overall production on 35,200 hectares. As Senegal currently imports 70 percent of its rice, these investments will also move the country closer to greater food security.
- The Ngalenka Activity is increasing agricultural production in a remote rural area through the construction of a new 450-hectare irrigated perimeter. The works include land levelling, intake and drainage pumping stations and construction of nine kilometers of primary and secondary canals, a six kilometer protection dike, 16 kilometers of drains, water control structures and 34 kilometers of access tracks. The establishment of the perimeter has been accompanied by training for the user groups, resettlement measures, a reforestation program and strengthening of existing land rights.
- The Project also includes a land tenure security activity was designed to accompany the irrigation rehabilitation to ensure that Project beneficiaries receive rights to their land and to mitigate potential land conflict that often results from the improved value of the irrigated areas. The Land Tenure Security Activity puts into practice existing national land legislation, which assigns significant land management authority to municipalities, through development of improved and more transparent land allocation processes; increased formalization of land rights; and enhanced capacity of government, private land managers and land property rights custodians.
Roads Rehabilitation Project
-
$324,062,499
Original Compact Project Amount -
$238,644,079
Total Disbursed
Estimated Benefits
Time | Estimated Economic Rate of Return (ERR) over 20 years | Estimated beneficiaries over 20 years | Estimated net benefits over 20 years |
---|---|---|---|
Not specified | 1,350,000 | $375,000,000 |
Project Description
The Roads Rehabilitation Project is designed to connect major population centers and agricultural production areas through rehabilitation of 372 kilometers on two of Senegal’s critical transport corridors: National Road #2 (Route Nationale 2 ~ RN2) in the Saint Louis region and National Road #6 (Route Nationale 6 ~ RN6) in the Casamance.
- The RN2 is the northernmost road in Senegal and is a strategic connector corridor from Dakar Harbor to Mauritania and Mali and to other large cities in Senegal. The RN2 road investment is upgrading and widening approximately 120 kilometers of road from Richard Toll to Ndioum, as well as constructing the Ndioum Bridge and its access roads. This investment will contribute to the development of economic potential in the Senegal River Valley, a zone known for its potential as a producer of rice.
- The RN6 is the single primary road available for transportation of local agricultural products from Casamance to the rest of Senegal without having to travel via The Gambia and serves as an essential connector with Guinea Bissau, Guinea (Conakry), and Mali. MCC’s investment in this region focuses on upgrading and widening 252 kilometers of the RN6 from Ziguinchor to Kounkane, and rehabilitating the Kolda Bridge. The RN6 investments will stimulate economic potential in the Casamance as a result of better access to markets in a region known for its strong agricultural potential.