• Industrial buyers commit to purchase 25,000 tons of local maize in 2025, up from 5,000 tons a year earlier.

• Senegal imported an annual average of 413,000 tons of maize between 2020 and 2024.

• Authorities expect the 2024/2025 maize harvest to rise 13% to 639,000 tons.

Maize ranks as Senegal’s most consumed cereal per capita after rice and millet. However, growing industrial demand forces the country to rely heavily on imports to fill its production gap.

Industrial buyers committed on Dec. 2 to pay for 25,000 tons of maize sourced from local producers in 2025. They signed the Commercialization Protocols in Dakar under the supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture.

The announced volume is five times higher than the 5,000-ton contract signed a year earlier and far above the 1,500 tons purchased locally in 2023. “These performances reflect the commitment of producers, the growing structuring of professional organizations, and the State’s support,” the Agriculture Ministry said in a statement.

Authorities say the protocol shifts the sector from a fragmented market to an organized, regulated and predictable system capable of supporting local processing. Industrial buyers—primarily manufacturers of animal feed—currently account for most of Senegal’s maize imports. Their increasing reliance on local output indicates a gradual shift away from international purchases.

Despite this shift, the gap remains significant. According to the National Agency for Statistics and Demography (ANSD), Senegal imported an annual average of 413,000 tons of maize between 2020 and 2024. The government considers stronger domestic production essential to reduce import dependency.

The Agriculture Ministry forecasts the 2024/2025 maize harvest at 639,000 tons. If confirmed, this would represent a 13% increase from the previous season’s output of 567,664 tons, according to ANSD data.

This article was initially published in French by Stéphanas Assocle

Adapted in English by Ange Jason Quenum