(Ecofin Agency) - During the 2017/2018 peanut season opening on December 1^st, one kilogram of the crop will be sold at CFA210. This was disclosed recently by the inter-ministerial council for the season’s preparation, following a meeting that regrouped all the actors of the sector (State institutions, financial institutions, oil makers and farmers’ and rural associations). 

This price is the same as that of the past year. It was fixed regardless of the global drop in prices of the crop. However, it is still to be approved by the Head of State, President Macky Sall. 

Moreover, the government will allocate CFA25 billion as subsidies for crop’s seedlings and NPK fertilizers (Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium) and should also provide oil makers a financial support of CFA4.9 billion. 

Senegal, let’s recall, is expected to produce in 2017/18, according to the latest forecasts of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), about 1 million tons of groundnuts over 1.1 million ha of cultivated areas. 

The country is the third largest producer in Africa, behind Nigeria and Sudan.

Espoir Olodo