• Senegal halts rice import declarations for one month to ease local surplus
• Move responds to 195,000 tons of unsold domestic rice, producers warn
• Government sets fixed price to support local rice amid import competition

Senegal’s Ministry of Industry and Commerce has temporarily suspended the issuance of import declarations for rice (DIPA) for one month.

The measure, announced on Wednesday, Nov. 12, was adopted at a meeting convened by the Market Regulation Agency (ARM) with producers, traders, processors, government agencies, and development partners.

Authorities said the step aims to halt rice imports to help clear unsold local stocks temporarily. In October, rice producers in the Dagana department in the Senegal River Valley warned that nearly 195,000 tons of paddy and milled rice from the 2025 harvest risked going unsold because of competition from cheaper imports.

“We cannot sell our rice because imported rice is already present in large quantities. Senegal, which used to hold a three-month stock, now has a six-month stock due to imported rice,” said Baba Diallo, training officer for the Dagana rice producers’ sub-college, in remarks reported by local media outlet Senenet on Oct. 29.

To further support local producers, the ministry also set a single ex-factory price of 350 CFA francs per kilogram for locally produced broken and whole rice.

It is unclear whether the measures will stabilize the market. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that Senegal will import 1.65 million tons of milled rice in the 2025/2026 marketing year, roughly 70% of annual demand, which stands at about 2.2 million tons.

Stéphanas Assocle