USAID Bay Sa Waar Communities for Sustainable Agriculture
| USAID Bay Sa Waar Communities for Sustainable Agriculture | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Project acronym: | USAID |
| Status: | Completed |
| Project leads: | |
| Project start: | 2018 |
| Project end: | 2025 |
| Keywords: | Food security, Soil, Soil amendments, Nutrition, Ecology, Field research |
| Species purview | |
| Species purview: | |
| Geographic purview | |
| Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Western Africa, Senegal, Sahel region | |
| Associated resources: | |
Monitoring and Soil Amendments for Locust and Grasshopper Management A Pilot Project in the Kaffrine Region of Senegal
Description
The Senegalese Grasshopper (Oedaleus senegalensis) is among the most severe pests of the Sahel. This species regularly attacks staple cereal crops which, combined with low soil fertility, reduces farmers’ resiliency and food security. This project pilot introduced a sustainable methodology for locust management in the Kaffrine Region of Senegal: the use of locust biology to reduce crop damage. By leveraging research that illustrates strong soil-plant- locust interactions, this project proposes a novel long-term and community-based preventative strategy: setting up village-based soil amendment and locust monitoring programs to create environments unfavorable to locusts.
Associated publications
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Associated resources
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Lead institutions and partners
Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, Bay Sa Waar combines specialized research and technical skills of Senegalese, Malian, Nigerien, American, French, and Canadian institutions with local knowledge and expertise of West African communities. In Senegal, partner villages are distributed on a latitudinal gradient from Nganda in the south to Saint Louis in the north. These villages encompass much of the south-north migration range of the species in Senegal.
Soil amendment intervention
Improving soil quality has the objective of suppressing locust and grasshoppers (L&G) populations, reducing crop losses, and increasing yield. Our previous research shows that some L&G prefer plants low in nitrogen (i.e. unfertilized). Working with 250 farmers from across Senegal, we treated 250 fields with the recommended application of fertilizer to test if increasing plant nitrogen would keep pest populations low and crop yields high. Preliminary results show a decrease in overall damage to fertilized plants.
Early warning system
We worked with women in five communities to develop a system for monitoring insects with light traps. Communities are along the migratory route of O. senegalensis, expanding the monitored range, and allowing targeted and efficient use of interventions while empowering women to lessen the impacts of locusts. Women learned to monitor using light traps, identify grasshoppers, collect scientific samples, and report data to the government agency responsible for pest management, la Direction de la Protection des Végétaux or DPV.
Associated publications
No results found in the database at this time—please reach out if you have any to share!
Associated resources
No results found in the database at this time—please reach out if you have any to share!