Senegal

Senegal continues to face significant food security challenges driven by persistent rural poverty, climate shocks, limited livelihood opportunities, and insufficient access to basic services.

While the March 2026 Cadre Harmonisé analysis showed some improvement following the harvest season, food insecurity remains fragile. During the 2026 lean season, nearly 837,000 people were projected to face crisis or emergency levels of food insecurity – an increase of over 70 percent within 2026 and highlighting the limited resilience of vulnerable households.

Climate extremes continue to undermine agricultural production through recurrent droughts, irregular rainfall, land degradation and other environmental pressures. These challenges are compounded by rising agricultural input costs and the effects of El Niño on crop and livestock production, which are expected to further increase food insecurity during the 2027 lean season.

Evidence from the Fill the Nutrient Gap and Micronutrient Intake Modeling and Mapping Initiative studies in 2026 has revealed that 60 percent of the population cannot afford a healthy diet and 46 percent cannot afford a minimum nutritious diet. These findings reinforce the importance of nutrition-sensitive interventions, including food fortification and the expansion of resilient food systems.

The World Food Programme (WFP) combines emergency assistance with long-term resilience building. WFP supports vulnerable populations through cash-based transfers, nutrition programmes, climate-resilient livelihoods, land-restoration activities, agricultural insurance and climate information services.

WFP also promotes food systems transformation through home-grown school feeding programmes that connect local farmers to school meal markets, while supporting the Government’s food sovereignty agenda and strengthening the resilience of rural communities.