- Author, Raissa Okoi and Oumou Kalsoum
- Role, Journalist, BBC Africa
Nicknamed the Salt Queen of Fatick, Marie is a pioneer in the exploitation of salt. The first woman to join the industry, she has been working there for two decades.
Marie Diouf started out as a salt collector, today she is one of the few Senegalese who reign over the sector in the country. Salt production is profitable but it is particularly difficult to work in this sector. It is therefore very rare to see women rise to the head of production units.
“You have to be a woman who respects herself, who negotiates with her employees, and who also pays her employees”, advice from the one who has been nicknamed The Queen of Salt from Factick, a city located in the west of Senegal .
Marie Diouf is a pioneer in the exploitation of salt. The first woman to join the industry, she has been working there for two decades.
Iron lady, she knew how to enter the restricted circle of salt production in Senegal. Saliculture, a field of activity hitherto dominated by men.
Rough start
” When I started out, I was a salt picker. This is a woman that the men employ in their salt marshes. The daily salary is estimated at 2000 f CFA. A salt picker has the option of having her own pile of salt. A very small one that she can sell for between 10,000 and 15,000 f CFA,” she explains.
Ambitious, serial entrepreneur, Marie quickly understood that women had their place in this sector which is full of potential.
“After working for a long time, I wondered why men took over salt mining? And why not women too? I decided to get into salt processing. At the start, I sold my small ruminants. In addition, I took out a bank loan to buy my plots for farming”, says Marie Diouf.
Senegal is ranked by invest for job as the largest salt producer in West Africa.
The consecration
“It’s not the path that is difficult, it’s the difficult that is the path”, Marie appropriated this adage.
Thanks to her activity, she contributes modestly to the fight against unemployment in her region by creating jobs.
“I own two hectares of land. I think it’s not enough. I want more! The proof, I rent 3 hectares to increase my production. At the beginning I was alone, now I have recruited 30 people.
The exploitation of salt is dependent on climatic hazards.
“The campaign can start in September, October, November or December, it all depends. First, a dike is erected. Then we carry out stripping, that is to say, we remove all the sand. ”
“It is necessary to have a water pipe. For this you need a motor pump.
Finally, crystallization is the harvesting of salt. The end of the salt cultivation campaign depends on the rainy season. If it starts to rain, we stop. ”
Reforming the salt sector, a necessity
According to invest for job, Senegal has a production of more than 450,000 tons per year. Performances that rank this West African country as the largest salt producer in West Africa.
Much of this production comes from more than 15,000 small artisanal producers who make unrefined salt. This is why it is important for Marie Faye to better structure the sector.
”It is important to make reforms to boost the salt sector; in particular to create wealth and added value. Without this we will not be able to certify prices as is the case for sugar, onions or peanuts. ”
Marie to a minimum daily production of 10 tonnes of salt. It packages it in 500 gram sachets and 25 kilogram bags.
Advice for female salt farmers
Marie Faye encourages women, still in the minority, to get into salt mining.
For Marie Faye, Queen of Salt, it is not the salt farmers who want! Nevertheless, she encourages women, still in the minority, to embark on salt mining.
You just need to have certain qualities:
- Arm yourself with a lot of courage
- To be a virtuous woman
- Being a good manager means being a good manager, paying your employees on time and above all having good communication with your employees.