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Senegal is widely considered a
safe, stable democracy however it is affected by high levels of poverty
(46.7% nationally but higher in rural areas) and unemployment 22.60% (2020). Senegal is in 168th out of 189th place out of 189 countries and territories in 2019 based upon the life expectancy,
literacy, access to knowledge and living standards of a country putting it in the low human development category. Most of the 58% of the population who live in rural areas are engaged in
agriculture (75%) although only about 5% of the land is irrigated. Senegal
faces many challenges, not least poor rural access to education
(particularly for girls) and healthcare, coupled with food shortages and
increasing desertification in the north of the country where water stress is
becoming a serious issue.
Many villages in Senegal are home
to around a thousand people. Traditional village homes (above) are
made from mud bricks with wooden roofs entwined with millet
stalks and are often decorated with numerous family
photographs with various animals
from goats, sheep, chickens and cows roaming freely around the family
compound. Only 38% of rural homes have access to electricity, compared to 88% in urban areas although rising across the country in general. Some villages will have their own
Mosque in a country that is 92% Muslim (with prayers held five
times a day) and most villages will have a well from which water
is collected and communal washing facilities in a
freestanding, concrete building with two tin sides.
63% of the rural population having access to safe water supplies. For others, it's a matter of walking to waterholes (below) and
collecting a daily supply from there or taking a donkey
and cart if further afield. The lack of fresh, safe water
coupled with poor sanitation in Senegal contributes to the
high risk of waterborne diseases such as bacterial and protozoal diarrhoea, hepatitis A and typhoid fever as well as
schistosomiasis that make children in Senegal more likely to
fall ill and less likely to attend school and get an education and
consequently have better life outcomes. Many in rural communities rely on
boreholes however many of these have been overexploited and in
some areas, such as Mont Rolland, villagers have to drill down over
260 feet to reach water supplies.
The
water situation in Senegal deteriorates the further north you
go where the Sahara desert is slowly encroaching on former
arable lands. Part of the cause of this is
deforestation, poor farming methods, coupled with climate
change, but also the four-fold increase in the country's
population since independence in 1960. This rapid population expansion has led to a rise in the
demand for wood and charcoal and more of the previously
forested land in now required to cultivate crops to feed the
population. As a result whilst there were more than 250 trees
per hectare prior to 1960, today there are less than twenty.
In fact, 60% of Senegal's forests have disappeared since 1970
mainly for fire wood.
While
the Senegal government is aware of the issue and has developed
programs to promote water supply including building dams on
the Senegal River to ensure an all round supply to those
living in its basin and other innovative projects, it's the
north of the country where the battle is probably lost and
people have simply abandoned the land and moved south in
search of secure water supplies. One such area is Ferlo which
is now so arid that few can live there save for a few trees
and goats. Others have left Senegal altogether by getting illegally into Europe through the Spanish enclaves in Morocco of Ceuta and Mellila (se chart below for these migrant detinations). But, as one would be migrant reflected "The smugglers at the Spanish-Moroccan border who we trusted ripped us off and abandoned us to our fate. So, the only choice we had was to get in, by force, or go back home and become the butt of jokes."
Senegal has the highest population of polygamous marriages in
West Africa with most men having more than one wife. In
village areas the family, often comprising of ten people, will
live within a compound with the male spending time with
each wife and children and household tasks being rotated
amongst the women. Their day starts with a
breakfast of baguettes of bread, followed by a wash in a
freestanding, communal concrete building with two tin sides.
By mid-morning children go off to school, whilst many girls
stay at home helping with chores, and older lads drive carts
led by donkeys to collect water from nearby wells.
Fathers either
work on the land in their millet and sorghum fields or travel
to urban areas or even further afield in Europe returning only at weekends
or less frequently depending on distance. After completing
their household tasks the women of the family will often take
food to family members working in the fields before preparing
items that can be sold at market such as cooking ingredients. The village day
ends with a meal of a little meat on lashings of rice around
9-10pm, then sleep, and ready for the next day. The video (below)
above explores daily lie in Senegal in more detail and our Senegal culture article explores life and traditions there in more detail.
Life in Senegal: Volunteer in Senegal
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Life in Senegal: Senegal Culture
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Life in Senegal: Children in Senegal
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Life in Senegal: Child Sponsor Senegal
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Life in Senegal: Senegal Country Profile
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