• Senegal establishes a national chapter of the ECOWAS Rice Observatory (ERO) to boost local rice competitiveness.

• Local production covers less than half of domestic demand, while imports continue to dominate consumption.

• The country imported 1.47 million tonnes of milled rice in 2024/2025, with further growth expected.

Rice remains the main cereal cultivated and consumed in Senegal. However, local production covers less than half of domestic demand and struggles to attract consumers, who favor imported rice perceived as higher quality.

Against this backdrop, Senegal is establishing a national chapter of the ECOWAS Rice Observatory (ERO) to improve the competitiveness of locally produced rice. The Ministry of Agriculture announced the initiative in a statement published on March 30.

The ERO operates as a multi-stakeholder platform that brings together governments, producers, private sector actors, research institutes, and technical partners. Economic Community of West African States created the platform in 2021 to operationalize its “Rice Offensive,” a regional policy that targets rice self-sufficiency in West Africa.

The platform coordinates programs linked to the rice sector, aligns public and private investments, formulates policy recommendations for decision-makers, and facilitates access to financing across the value chain.

The establishment of a national ERO chapter in Senegal reflects the authorities’ intent to adapt this coordination and monitoring tool to local conditions. “The stakeholders will adopt an inclusive governance framework, establish steering bodies, and develop a roadmap to operationalize the chapter in favor of competitive and sustainable local rice,” the statement said.

An Opportunity Amid Structural Challenges?

Senegal has placed the competitiveness of locally produced rice at the center of its agricultural agenda. Producers have struggled for months to sell their stocks, as imported rice undercuts local supply on price, consistency, cleanliness, packaging formats, and availability.

In October 2025, rice producers in the Dagana department, located in the Senegal River Valley, warned that nearly 195,000 tonnes of paddy and milled rice from the 2025 campaign could remain unsold.

As the situation persisted into 2026, the government introduced several measures. On March 5, authorities announced a subsidy of CFA50 per kilogram of locally produced rice to facilitate stock clearance.

However, despite these efforts, millers and agro-industrial operators in Saint-Louis, also in the Senegal River Valley, reported more than 50,000 tonnes of unsold paddy and milled rice in storage as of March 28, according to local media.

The coming months will indicate whether the launch of the national ERO chapter can inject new momentum into the management and performance of the rice sector.

Senegal continues to increase its reliance on imported rice. In its latest global grains market report, the United States Department of Agriculture reported that the country imported 1.47 million tonnes of milled rice during the 2024/2025 marketing year, marking a 13% increase from 1.3 million tonnes in 2022/2023.

The USDA expects imports to reach 1.5 million tonnes during the ongoing 2025/2026 campaign.

This article was initially published in French by Stéphanas Assocle

Adapted in English by Ange J.A de Berry Quenum