An Exchange for the Future of Agriculture in Senegal

Napierville – Within the agricultural cooperative Uniag Coopérative, October witnessed a rewarding intercultural experience. Dieynaba Oumar Anne, a 34-year-old woman from Senegal, embarked on a twelve-week internship in Canada, coordinated by CECI. Her goal? To gain valuable skills and knowledge in management and governance of agricultural cooperatives to bring back to Senegal, where the country is currently in the process of creating an agricultural cooperative. Her stay in Quebec was made possible through CECI's reciprocity internship program.

The reciprocity internships offer a unique chance for someone involved in an organization from a partner country to connect with another culture and integrate into the environment. This opportunity allows the intern to gain a significant personal and professional experience through intercultural exchange and contact with people working in their field of activities. Dieynaba Oumar Anne's internship is the result of an international cooperation initiative, aimed at fostering intercultural exchanges and the transmission of know-how. Senegal, like many other African countries, sees agricultural cooperatives as a promising model to stimulate economic growth, improve farmers' living conditions, and promote food security.

Dieynaba Oumar Anne works for the National Agency for Agricultural Development and Integration (ANIDA) in Senegal, a government institution committed to promoting agriculture and rural development. Her role at ANIDA led her to actively participate in the establishment of an agricultural cooperative in Senegal. Thus, she accepted the internship opportunity in Canada with great enthusiasm, with the ambition of acquiring new skills to contribute to the success of the cooperative project in Senegal.

CECI played a key role in coordinating this internship, by establishing a partnership with Uniag Coopérative, an agricultural cooperative in West Montérégie and Eastern Ontario, which opened its doors to Dieynaba. Uniag Coopérative offers products and services to dairy, crop, and vegetable producers in its region. When CECI sought their participation in this program, the team at Uniag Coopérative enthusiastically agreed to share their knowledge and experience in cooperative management and governance.

During the five weeks of her internship with Uniag, Dieynaba had the opportunity to visit different agricultural operations of the cooperative's members. She attended corn harvesting, explored a dairy farm transitioning to robotic milking, discovered the secrets of a maple grove, and delved into the workings of a large vegetable farm. What impressed Dieynaba the most was the automation and use of agricultural machinery, aspects that are still not widespread in Senegal. This experience allowed her to discover the advantages of efficiency and productivity that these technologies bring to Canadian agriculture.

The young Senegalese woman also participated in training sessions on cooperative management, associative life, decision-making, accounting, and other fundamental aspects of cooperative governance.

Dieynaba's internship at Uniag Coopérative was a transformative experience both for her and for her Canadian hosts. Upon returning to Senegal, Dieynaba Oumar Anne will bring back concrete knowledge and tools that will contribute to the success of the agricultural cooperative project. This internship is an inspiring example of how intercultural exchange can positively shape the future of global agriculture.

_{*Article originally published on the website of our partner Uniag Coopérative.}