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The campaign to buy the seed started at the end of November and is still ongoing. With their low harvests, farmers increasingly prefer to turn away from official channels to sell to foreign buyers who offer better prices.
From our correspondent in Dakar,
In Abdoulaziz Ndiaye’s field in the village of Tioupane, the ground is still wet. Yet the last rain fell in October. “That’s heavy rains that fell during the rainy season. This impacted groundnut production and the plants could not grow properly. It was really a catastrophic harvest. I can say that in the past 10 years, we haven’t had a season like this. »
Important rains, but badly distributed in time and which started at the end of May, earlier than usual. An effect of climate change that must be taken into account for Ibou Faye, also a farmer. “If we had prepared accordingly, perhaps, we could have tapped on varieties that we could sow in August and perhaps harvest in October. This falls within the jurisdiction of the state », Estimates Ibou Faye.
Half of the land cultivated in the groundnut basin
In the groundnut basin, in the center of Senegal, the seed occupies half of the cultivated land. A few kilometers from the Abdoulaziz field, the warehouses of the GIPA cooperative, which buys from farmers to resell to the oil producer Copeol, are almost empty. Only a few piles of bags are stacked.
For Sidy Ba, head of the cooperative and general secretary of the Peanut Producers Consultation Framework: “At this time already, last year, we had more than 300 tonnes here. Today, we barely have 30 tons. »
In addition to the climatic conditions, the farmers struggled to obtain fertilizer and the price of a bag exploded (from 15,000 CFA francs to around 25,000 CFA francs). Among the reasons given, the war in Ukraine, and the export of a large part of Senegalese production. The price war has therefore been even fiercer this year. “And the prices offered were also not incentive in November 2022 ”, emphasizes Sidy Ba.
Selling stocks before the start of the campaign
At the start of the season, the floor price negotiated in consultation with the various players, including Senegalese oil producers, was 275 CFA francs per kilo. Not enough for growers. The presence on the market of foreign buyers, led by China, has pushed up prices. They offered up to 400 CFA francs per kilo and greater flexibility, which convinced El Hadj Ndiaye.
« I prefer to sell to foreigners rather than domestic oilers because the price is more favorable“, he assumes. “In addition, I stay on site, they come to find me directly in the village to buy groundnuts. The Senegalese, you have to go to them at the collection points and the price is lower. »
Many farmers are therefore turning away from oil mills to sell off their stocks even before the start of the campaign. The floor price was finally reassessed at 375 CFA francs per kilo. But faced with such uncertain harvests, the future of farmers is uncertain. According to the World Bank, 27% of Senegalese households live from groundnut cultivation.