(Ecofin Agency) - In an open letter to the President of Senegal, Macky Sall, the head of the association of active rural women for an emerging Senegal, Fatimata Gaye, asked the leader’s “intervention” in order to find an acceptable solution to the uprising of the Fouta people over the sale of 10,000 ha of arable lands to the Moroccan group Addoha, owned by Anas Sefrioui. 

“It seemed legitimate and right to address your high authority to not only inform you of the distress of the people of Fouta but more generally, so that we can tackle this issue which could, in the long term, degrade relations between authorities and our community,” Gaye wrote. 

Well aware of the opportunities that the controversial investment could bring forth, Fatimata Gaye however estimates that the government should adopt an inclusive approach to deal with the crisis. “The situation of the people of this part of Senegal is quite precarious. Due to this, this approach suggests the integration, after concertation, of the conditions and situation of women and youths of Fouta in every project developed in the area. History taught us that endless conflicts all around the world are mostly related to land or water,” she said.   

Since it was announced that 10,000 ha of agricultural lands in Dodel and Demette had been sold the Addoha, which operates in Senegal’s real estate sector, many anger bursts and complaints have come from the civic society, and Fouta’s populations also.