Nineteenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

Agricultural sustainability arises amidst the question on the structure of the Senegalese barter economy which gives peanut a preponderant place in production and priority in marketing. To sustain the value of agricultural production, the approach would be resource conservation, commercial, social and environmental consciousness. The barter economy, inherited from colonization was not reassessed after independence. It was set in motion to defend the interests of the imperialists. Since then, capital has taken the monopoly of production. Peasants became dependent on peanut as the cash crop and enacted, in the process, their own exploitation. Value is placed on commodities but not on the peasant’s labor power. As argued by Amartya Sen, this original sin of the colonial system is the main source of Senegal’s development “unfreedom”. Following FAO recommendations to increase world cereal production by 50% by 2050, Senegalese faces the challenge of rethinking its agricultural system by introducing diversity, which has become a prerequisite for food security. That is a much-needed approach in the face of population growth and climate change. This paper adapts the idea of sustainable agriculture as the way forward for a restructuring of the Senegalese agricultural system to accommodate the economic and social needs of its present peasant class while preserving the resources that will enable future generations to prosper. For that it’s necessary to go through the structural diversity of the Senegalese household based on the role assigned to each member of the patriarchy and on the human aspect that gives it meaning.