The Problem

Senegal is one of the youngest countries in the world, with over 80% of its population being under 35 years old. Despite having such a young population, youth unemployment is a serious issue in Senegal, with approximately 300,000 new entrants to the labour market each year, while the supply of new jobs is estimated at only 30,000. It is clear that there are not enough decent opportunities being created for Senegalese youth. Most working youth are underemployed and work informal and seasonal jobs in precarious sectors like agricultural sector. This means that during the inactive seasons, rural youth have even fewer or no opportunities for work.  

Furthermore, women working in this sector face additional challenges, as it is often their responsibility to manage domestic chores such as child-care. This hinders women from travelling far or leaving their homes for longer periods of time, thus excluding them even further from decent job opportunities.

The Solution

To tackle these challenges, STATINFO launched the Commango project, which focused on digital agricultural development and provided nearly 100 young individuals with roles as data collection facilitators in Casamance. With CFYE funding, STATINFO will expand the Commango project to new crops and broader regions, thus increasing employment opportunities and reinforcing the project’s socio-economic impact. This upgraded version of the Commango project is called SysAgri, and it is a digitized information system developed and managed by and for networks of data-collecting producers. The platform aims to deliver reliable and detailed insights into available production for various crops, their ownership, locations, phenological tracking, and proximity to collection points. 

The primary goal of the SysAgri project will be to enhance producers’ income by establishing direct connections with buyers and eliminating intermediaries in the commercialisation process. SysAgri will increase youth employment by hiring them as data collectors whose responsibility is to ensure the system’s vitality and seamless operation. This allows youth to earn decent income in inactive periods of not working in agriculture and equips them with new skills in data collection and processing that they can utilise later in life. The activity also does not require highly advanced skills and education; thus, the project is objective is to ensure a balanced representation of women and men, aiming to achieve or surpass a 40% target of jobs for women.   

Additionally, the flexible nature of data collection provides a significant advantage for women, allowing them to manage domestic responsibilities before engaging in this activity, as it can be conducted at various times based on agents’ availability. This flexibility contributes to empowering young women without imposing excessive constraints.