(Ecofin Agency) - In Senegal, farmers from Diokoul denounced the spoliation of their lands after municipal autorities granted 1,000 hectares of agricultural lands to Senegindia for potato farming. Hundreds of these farmers organized a protest last Thursday to be heard.

“These fields here are our grand-fathers’, fathers’ and even our sons’ fields ! We make our living from these fields! So why is it that they want to forcefully take them from us ? We will not let them!,” one of the protestants told RFI while another shouted : “We don’t have enough land to farm. Indians came to steal them from us and we won’t accept it, never”  

Truth is Diokoul’s people are so enraged because they believe they are going to lose agricultural lands which are already not enough to satisfy their needs in food and economic exploitation. However, the mayor believes the opposite. About “2,500 jobs should be created. There is land but it’s not used. We better give it out now. Those who had the opportunity to work on this land are being given lands elsewhere, so everyone wins,” he said.

However, farmers are not satisfied by this guarantee. The President of the Group that denounced the grabbing, Moustapha, also school director on leave and former Pesident of the Diokoul Diawrigne rural community said: “We are asking the government to cancel all acts signed and restart the procedure. That is what we want”. He even addressed President Sall an open letter demanding that he “puts off the rising flames before they burn the fields”.

Souha Touré