Asia Tallino - Sustainable Urban Farming Practices in Pikine, Senegal

Urban Agriculture has been proclaimed around the world in the past few decades as an extremely effective method for not only providing food to a community, but also for providing jobs & more stable income generation. As the majority of the populations in the world are projected to live in cities by 2030, urban agriculture is becoming more recognized for poverty alleviation. However, in many places, such as Pikine, a city in the Dakar region of Senegal, urban farmers are struggling to find the economic support and land they need to continue and expand their production of perishable foods in and near urban areas. This summer I will be conducting independent research while working with urban farmers & members of Provania, a small farmers’ association, in Pikine. The purpose of this study is to research how current farming methods and possible waste-reuse strategies, such as composting, are managed and/or supported by farmers and municipal policies.