Groundnut production is vital to the Senegalese agricultural economy, particularly in the Groundnut Basin. However the region is increasingly affected by climate change and associated rising temperatures. This study investigates long-term changes in the frequency of extreme temperatures in the Groundnut Basin and the impact of extreme temperatures on groundnut production. The current economic costs of extreme temperatures on groundnut farmers and potential future additional economic costs associated with climate change are then calculated. The study uses a two-year panel dataset from 1,123 households in the Groundnut Basin and weather data from meteorological stations and the ERA5 climate database. Results identify a significant increasing trend in extreme temperatures across the Groundnut Basin and a negative relationship between extreme temperatures and groundnut yield. This leads to financial losses for farmers, with adaptation strategies such as input level adjustments providing partial mitigation. Future projections indicate further increases in extreme heat degrees days, resulting in significant yield losses by 2050. But the implications of extreme heat also extend beyond agriculture, affecting human habitation and exacerbating societal inequalities. The findings highlight the potential long-term effects of increasing temperatures on agricultural practices in the Groundnut Basin and underscore the need for adaptation and mitigation strategies to cope with the impacts of climate change. / Master of Science / Groundnut production plays an important role in Senegal's agricultural economy, particularly in the Groundnut Basin. However, the region is facing growing challenges due to climate change and rising temperatures. This study examines the long-term changes in extreme temperatures in the Groundnut Basin and their impact on groundnut production. By analyzing data from 1,123 households and temperature records, the study calculates the current economic costs of extreme temperatures on groundnut farmers and predicts potential future costs associated with climate change. The findings reveal a significant increase in extreme temperatures across the Groundnut Basin, which has a negative effect on groundnut yields. As a result, farmers face financial losses. However, they are employing adaptation strategies, such as adjusting input levels, to partially mitigate these losses. In the future, projections indicate that extreme heat will continue to rise, leading to substantial yield losses by 2050. But the implications of these findings also go beyond agriculture, impacting human settlements and exacerbating existing societal inequalities. The study emphasizes the potential long-term consequences of increasing temperatures on groundnut farming in the Groundnut Basin and highlights the urgency of implementing adaptation and mitigation strategies to address the impacts of climate change.

Agroforestry is a new term for an old practice of resource management which includes the planting of trees and agricultural crops on the same piece of land, either simultaneously or sequentially. In Senegal, this new approach has been praised, mainly because it came along at a time when private participation in reforestation was badly needed. Since the early 1980s, the Snegalese government has been devoting money and personnel to the implementation of agroforestry projects, particularly in the Groundnut Basin. In spite of these efforts, small private farmers response to the suggested agroforestry systems has been slow in most parts of the region. Assuming that financial return is the most viable mean for triggering large-scale adoption of agroforestry by private farmers, this study analyzes the financial attractiveness of the three agroforestry systems promoted in the Groundnut Basin, and compares them to the base case of growing groundnuts alone. The three agroforestry systems are: kad and millet, cashew and groundnuts, and a Eucalyptus block plantation. For each system, costs and benefits accruing to the farmer are identified and estimated. The financial attractiveness of each system is measured using two criteria: present net worth (PNW) and internal rate of return (IRR). Using the criterion that a system with a PNW greater than zero is acceptable, the results indicate that all three agroforestry systems are acceptable at 10 and 15 percent discount rates. The kad and millet system is acceptable at rates nearing 50 percent. This is due mainly to the valuation of the crop loss avoided in the presence of kad trees. When this component was not internalized, the IRR was found at only 15.8 percent. The cashew and groundnut system has the next highest IRR at 25.6 percent, followed by The Eucalyptus block plantation at 18.8 percent. The base case yields negative PNW at all three discount rates, and an IRR equal to 4. 7 percent. This low return from the groundnut enterprise may be due to the valuation of family labor which does not generally constitute an out-of-pocket cost. Some environmental benefits attributable to agroforestry systems and some socio-economic constraints that may be part of the farmers' reluctance to adopt the new systems are discussed. Finally, some recommendations are made to help improve the current approach to private involvement in reforestation. It is suggested that, in order to anticipate the loss in interest that follows most incentive programs once the incentives stop, the "cost sharing" program and other financial incentive programs should be limited to systems, which have strong favorable impacts on the environment but do not afford sufficient financial rewards by themselves for wide scale adoption. / M.S.

L’agriculture familiale s’affiche indéniablement comme un pilier de la sécurité alimentaire nationale. Elle représente près de 80% des exploitations en Afrique sub-saharienne et emploie 75% des actifs. Dans le Bassin arachidier, les exploitations agricoles familiales ont généralement une superficie moyenne comprise entre un et cinq hectares mais, elles font face aux divers défis de sécurité alimentaire, d’équité sociale et de durabilité environnementale. En outre, elles sont confrontées à des contraintes structurelles d’ordre organisationnel et économique dans un contexte d’incertitude climatique. Ainsi, cette thèse cherche à comprendre les stratégies mises en œuvre par les exploitations familiales face aux différents risques ainsi que les propositions alternatives des autres acteurs du développement du secteur. Il s’agit, à la fois, d’identifier les principales contraintes se posant aux exploitations et les stratégies qu’elles occasionnent pour proposer des stratégies complémentaires ou alternatives dans le cadre d’analyse de la gestion du risque. Pour une telle visée, nous avons appréhendé les concepts d’exploitation agricole familiale, de risque, de vulnérabilité et d’assurance agricole pour prendre en compte les dimensions de cet objet de recherche. Ce cadre théorique et conceptuel a été opérationnalisé sur le terrain au sein d’exploitations agricoles, en donnant la parole aux chefs d’exploitation. Plusieurs enquêtes ont été réalisées et ont porté sur les indicateurs sociodémographiques, structurels et techniques, sur les principaux risques et contraintes au niveau des exploitations, sur la perception de l’assurance agricole. Les principaux risques identifiés sont agricoles et climatiques. Les exploitations agricoles familiales considèrent l’accès aux intrants (engrais et semences) et au matériel agricole comme une contrainte structurelle, en plus du déficit pluviométrique. Aussi, il ressort une vulnérabilité importante dans ses trois composantes au niveau des exploitations agricoles du Bassin. Cette réflexion montre les limites des stratégies développées par les exploitations agricoles pour améliorer leur résilience dans le contexte pluvial du Bassin arachidier ; et justifie la nécessité d’aller vers de nouvelles stratégies complémentaires. L’une des pistes que nous avons explorée est l’assurance indicielle agricole. Son couplage au crédit, comme garantie pour les institutions financières et pour disposer de fonds de roulement, est positivement apprécié par les souscripteurs qui, à hauteur de 95%, sont prêts à prolonger l’utilisation des polices d’assurance. / Family farming undeniably appears as a pillar of national food security. It represents nearly 80% of farms in sub-Saharan Africa and employs 75% of assets. In the groundnut basin, family farms generally have an average size between one and five hectares, but they face the various challenges of food security, social equity and environmental sustainability. In addition, they face structural constraints of organizational and economic order in a context of climate uncertainty. Thus, this thesis seeks to understand the strategies used by family farms toward the various risks and alternative proposals from other actors in the sector's development. It is, at once, to identify the main constraints arising farms and strategies they cause to propose additional or alternative strategies in the analysis of the risk management framework. For such an aim, we arrested the concepts of family farm, risk, vulnerability and agricultural insurance to reflect the dimensions of this subject for research. This theoretical and conceptual framework was operationalized on the field within farms, giving a voice to farm managers. Several investigations have been conducted and focused on socio-demographic, structural and technical indicators, principal risks and constraints at the farm level, the perception of agricultural insurance. It appears from this study that the main risks identified are agriculture and climate. Family farms consider access to inputs (fertilizer and seed) and farm equipment as a structural constraint in the rainfall deficit. Also, it appears a significant vulnerability in its three components at farm level Basin. This reflection shows the limits of the strategies developed by the farms to improve their resilience in the context of rained groundnut basin; and justifies the need to go to new complementary strategies. One of the tracks that we have explored is the agricultural index insurance. Its coupling to credit, as collateral to financial institutions and to provide working capital is positively appreciated by the subscribers who, up to 95%, are willing to extend the use of insurance policies.

Les femmes, élément central de la vie économique et sociale, jouent un rôle important dans la société sénégalaise. Dans cette thèse nous avons voulu mettre en valeur le dynamisme et l'héroïsme quotidien des femmes sénégalaises, de la région de Diourbel en particulier. Ce dynamisme est étudié à travers leurs activités quotidiennes, la recherche d’autonomie économique, et leurs associations. Diourbel était le centre du bassin arachidier dont les contours se sont modifiés avec le développement de l’arachide et les mutations du milieu. Ces dernières ne manquent pas de conséquences sur la vie des populations, des femmes en particulier qui doivent trouver des moyens pour s'adapter et faire face au départ des hommes et à l'accroissement des charges familiales. En partant des difficultés multidimensionnelles du vieux bassin arachidier, étudiées à travers la mauvaise articulation des politiques agricoles coloniales et nationales, qui ont participé à la crise agricole qui a été aggravée par la combinaison de facteurs anthropiques et physiques, nous avons rappelé le rôle actif des femmes dans la sphère familiale, d’abord et rendu visibles les activités collectives ou individuelles qu’elles ont déployées. Ensuite, les associations féminines se caractérisent par leur diversité dans leurs formes, leurs objectifs, leurs moyens et leur tissu relationnel. Devant les mutations observées, elles sont devenues incontournables et sont perçues comme des réponses féminines. Devant tous ces changements, les femmes du Baol ont leur mot à dire et leur force à apporter pour que l'édifice familial et social reste debout. Face aux efforts déployés par les femmes, des perspectives s'ouvrent. / Women play an important role in Senegalese society occupying a central position in the economic and social life of the nation. In this thesis we will highlight the dynamism and the heroic levels of energy that Senegalese women invest in their daily tasks. Our observations will focus on the region of Diourbel. Their dynamism will be assessed throughout their daily activities, including their efforts to reach an economic self-sufficiency and their work within organizations. Diourbel used to be the center of the groundnut (peanut) basin. The borders of this region changed with shifts in the techniques of peanut farming and modifications in the environment. The latter has had effects on the living conditions of the inhabitants, particularly on women who had to find ways to adapt to such challenges as men migrating and increases in the cost of running a household. We highlight the active role women play within the family, demonstrating their collective and individual activities. These details are presented within the context of such multidimensional issues facing the old groundnut basin, as the incoherence of the colonial and national agricultural policies which have been aggravated by the combination of anthropogenic and physical factors. In addition the women´s associations are characterized by their variety, objectives, methods and internal relationships. The analysis will show them to be an inevitable feminine response to the observed social, economic and environmental changes. Women of Baol play a substantial role and exert significant influence on the process of maintaining both the social and familiar structures of their communities. As women carry out these efforts, our analysis will reveal how these efforts generate new perspectives.