{"id":12821,"date":"2026-04-20T17:33:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T15:33:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comite-costea.fr\/actualite\/in-senegal-a-partnership-dynamic-to-reinvent-irrigation\/"},"modified":"2026-10-10T14:07:26","modified_gmt":"2026-10-10T12:07:26","slug":"in-senegal-a-partnership-dynamic-to-reinvent-irrigation","status":"publish","type":"actualite","link":"https:\/\/www.comite-costea.fr\/en\/actualite\/in-senegal-a-partnership-dynamic-to-reinvent-irrigation\/","title":{"rendered":"In Senegal, a partnership dynamic to reinvent irrigation"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the Senegal River Valley, irrigation is at the heart of agricultural, economic, and territorial dynamics. Faced with the climate challenge, a conviction is gradually taking hold: transforming irrigated systems can no longer be addressed through siloed approaches. <\/strong><\/p>\n

It is with this perspective that COSTEA initiated an original group internship program for agronomy students in Senegal. Beyond its pedagogical dimension, this internship is part of a deeper dynamic: that of an ecosystem of actors structuring themselves around a common goal\u2014reinventing irrigation to serve agroecology at the territorial scale. <\/strong><\/p>\n

A format that has become a strategic lever and an approach that renews knowledge production methods<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Initially envisioned as a pedagogical opportunity, the group internship quickly established itself as a strategic tool for COSTEA.<\/p>\n

For one month, nearly 50 Senegalese students from Gaston Berger University and international students from Institut Agro Montpellier were mobilized in an intensive program consisting of: an academic preparation phase, two weeks of field surveys, and a reporting and production phase.<\/p>\n

This hybrid format makes it possible to simultaneously address three structural challenges, moving beyond a strictly technical reading of irrigation to fully integrate agroecology issues:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • training a new g<\/strong>e<\/strong>n<\/strong>e<\/strong>ration of professionals<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • producing empirical knowledge <\/strong>on <\/strong>a large <\/strong>s<\/strong>cale<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • informing, <\/strong>in <\/strong>the long term, r<\/strong>e<\/strong>flections on public <\/strong>p<\/strong>olicies<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    With 10 survey groups deployed simultaneously in the field, the collected data offers a detailed and grounded reading of agricultural realities\u2014closely reflecting farmers’ practices and water management challenges. <\/strong><\/p>\n

    What distinguishes these internships from classic expertise lies in the very nature of the program. Here, the long-term duration, the intensity of collective work, and the diversity of the profiles involved allow for: <\/p>\n

      \n
    • combining academic, technical, and empirical perspectives,<\/strong><\/li>\n
    • introducing analytical approaches derived from agrarian systems,<\/strong><\/li>\n
    • bringing to light new questions, raised by profiles that are not yet formatted by traditional thinking<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
      \"\"
      Group internship: an original approach to producing knowledge \u00a9ISRA-BAME<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

      COSTEA, a catalyst for an ecosystem of actors<\/strong><\/h1>\n

      At the heart of this dynamic, COSTEA plays a key role: that of facilitator and connector.<\/p>\n

      The internship helped federate actors, strengthening interactions between:<\/p>\n

        \n
      • SAED<\/strong>, a key operator in irrigated development, heavily involved in logistics and technical supervision<\/li>\n
      • <\/strong><\/strong>ISRA<\/strong>, which is strengthening its work on the agroecology of irrigated systems;<\/li>\n
      • Gaston <\/strong>B<\/strong>erger <\/strong>University<\/strong> and Institut <\/strong>Agro <\/strong>Montpellier<\/strong>, brought together for the first time around a common training program.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        This coordination, from preparation to reporting, has structured an unprecedented dialogue between academic institutions, research, and operational actors; one of the major contributions of the program lies in its ability to create lasting links.<\/p>\n

        The interactions established during the internship now constitute a foundation for COSTEA’s next steps:<\/p>\n

          \n
        • mobilizing actors in the study on the agroecological re-engineering of irrigated schemes, which starts in April<\/strong><\/li>\n
        • increased involvement of partners in training programs<\/strong><\/li>\n
        • structuring a network of experts at the West African scale.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          This continuity will notably materialize during a regional workshop scheduled for June 2026 in Senegal, bringing together experts from West African development companies.<\/p>\n

          \"\"
          Senegal: irrigation at the heart of agricultural dynamics \u00a9Mouhamadou Di\u00e8ye, ISRA-BAME<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

          Key lessons for the agro<\/strong>e<\/strong>cological transi<\/strong>t<\/strong>ion<\/strong><\/h1>\n

          The diagnosis carried out on the Dagana and Lake Guiers schemes highlights several major lessons that will inform a broader reflection on the conditions for an agroecological transition adapted to irrigated systems:<\/p>\n

            \n
          • Empowering farmers in water <\/strong>management<\/strong>
            A lever identified to improve system resilience, while raising the question of the role of technical operators in infrastructure management and maintenance.<\/li>\n
          • Diversification of cropp<\/strong>i<\/strong>ng systems<\/strong>
            Already present in the field, diversification opens up perspectives for moving away from rice monoculture and integrating agroecological practices.<\/li>\n
          • Cr<\/strong>o<\/strong>p-livestock <\/strong>inte<\/strong>gration<\/strong>
            A key path for strengthening the sustainability of production systems.<\/li>\n
          • T<\/strong>h<\/strong>e central role of women<\/strong>
            Despite limited access to land, women’s collective dynamics\u2014notably through cooperatives grouping several thousand female farmers\u2014appear as a strategic lever for transformation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

            Through <\/strong>this program, COSTEA confirms its positioning: fostering dialogue between scientific knowledge, field expertise, and d<\/strong>e<\/strong>cision-making to support the transformation of syst<\/strong>e<\/strong>ms irrigu<\/strong>e<\/strong>d.<\/strong><\/h3>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            In the Senegal River Valley, irrigation is at the heart of agricultural, economic, and territorial dynamics. Faced with the climate challenge, a conviction is gradually taking hold: transforming irrigated systems can no longer be addressed through siloed approaches. It is with this perspective that COSTEA initiated an original group internship program for agronomy students in […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tags":[],"localisation":[262],"type_contenu":[273],"class_list":["post-12821","actualite","type-actualite","status-publish","hentry","localisation-senegal-2","type_contenu-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comite-costea.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/actualite\/12821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comite-costea.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/actualite"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comite-costea.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/actualite"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comite-costea.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.comite-costea.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/actualite\/12821\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comite-costea.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comite-costea.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12821"},{"taxonomy":"localisation","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comite-costea.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/localisation?post=12821"},{"taxonomy":"type_contenu","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comite-costea.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/type_contenu?post=12821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}