Leveraging Satellite Technology in Senegal’s Rice Regions for National Food and Economic Security

In the Senegal River Valley (SRV) region, rice is primarily cultivated by smallholder farmers under irrigated ecosystems. The crop plays a significant role in the country’s economy, food security, and culture. The valley is the country’s major rice-producing region, with about 70% of the country’s total rice production, covering about 46% of agricultural lands. Secondary only to the SRV region is Casamance, located towards Senegal’s southern region. Casamance receives more rain, which allows rice farmers to rely on rainfall for water, enabling the cultivation of rainfed lowland (bas-fond) and upland rice. Senegal’s wet season begins around June, allowing farmers to harvest their crops by November to December. Altogether, this entire ecosystem makes rainfed rice systems vulnerable to drought since Senegal also lies along the Sahel region, the semi-arid belt of northern Africa, characterized by a hot, arid climate with distinct wet and dry seasons. About 70% of Senegal’s households participate in the agriculture sector, but it only contributes 17% to the country’s GDP, providing a huge opportunity to improve rice production in the country.

Under the CGIAR Initiative on Digital Innovations and the CGIAR Digital Transformation Accelerator, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), the Institut Sénégalais de Recherches Agricoles (ISRA), and sarmap harnessed satellite technology (Sentinel-1A, Landsat 8/9, and Sentinel-2) to create a digital platform that can help monitor rice production in Senegal. The IRRI-sarmap team piloted the Remote Sensing-based Information and Insurance for Crops in emerging Economies (RIICE) technology, considering Senegal’s geography, climate, and production systems, and combined Earth Observation data with ground information and ORYZA’s crop growth modelling platform to map rice area, track cropping seasons, and simulate yields. IRRI and sarmap initiated the development of RIICE in 2011, with the support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), for derisking rice crops by mapping climate vulnerability of rice-producing areas in Asia.