The water of Lake Guiers, a vital resource, is under threat. An American company is exploiting it intensively for agro-export, ignoring Dakar's growing needs and environmental risks Brice Folarinwa from SenePlus | Published 18/11/2023 African Agriculture’s Response 4/12/23.

As access to clean water becomes increasingly difficult in Dakar, a U.S. investment firm is exploiting water resources from the country's only lake, jeopardizing Senegal's water security, according to an investigation by the Bloomberg Green news site.

Response: African Agriculture encourages all parties to conduct your own research. We had provided Bloomberg with actual readings of water levels, reflecting an increase in water levels since the beginning of our project.

Lake Guiers, the country's main freshwater reservoir located about 260km from Dakar, already supplies half of the capital's water needs. However, the company African Agriculture Inc. grows alfalfa on 26,000 hectares of the nearby Ndiael nature reserve, mainly for export to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. "There is not enough water. Twenty thousand hectares of export fodder crops will only make the situation worse," said Ousmane Aly Pame, a university professor and environmental activist. This opinion is shared by experts, as Dakar's water demand is expected to triple by 2050 according to the World Bank.

Response: 100pct of our production is sold in Senegal and in ECOWAS, providing valuable food security for the country and region The amount of water taken from Lake Guiers is very minimal, estimated at less than 100,000 cubic metres per year. LFT practices pivot irrigation, which is a method of watering alfalfa using a motorized swivel arm that rotates from a central axis. A highly efficient system that does not waste water. The project is in line with the technical services set up by the State of Senegal, and we have paid all invoices due to OMVS through the financial department SOGED. The Office du Lac de Guiers (OLAG) in charge of the planning and management of the waters of Lake Guiers and they have visited us to better understand the situation. They have been convinced that with the irrigation system African Agriculture is utilizing, there is no water loss. Alfalfa does not consume enough water, and unlike other varieties such as rice, there is no drainage or the use of open canals to stagnate water. The water used does not flow into the lake and kill fish or contaminate children. This small amount used for plants infiltrates directly, and with no disadvantages to the water table.

However, African Agriculture intends to double the cultivated area and plans to export up to 350,000 tons of alfalfa per year to the Gulf, twice as much as the current water needs of the lake for Dakar. "We use water sustainably," says Alan Kessler, the company's CEO. However, the company is accused of having withdrawn water for two years without paying royalties to the Organization for the Development of the Senegal River.

Response: (addressed above). We depicted a copy of our paid in full water invoice – this is a fallacious claim. This will be recanted by Bloomberg, and you will have to copy their report. And there is a real risk of conflicts of use with local farmers and herders deprived of pasture.

Response: The area is inhabited mainly by Fulani, who practice herding and are nomads. The project's access to the required surface area is an opportunity for the populations of the communities to access production land in the peripheral area of the Ndiael. LFT provides a good opportunity to recover land that had become marginal due to the very worrying salinization phenomena in the area. In place of barbed wire, LFT has dug channels without water and without depth to protect themselves from the straying animals. And for the area intended for animals, LFT has applied the Land Use POAS (Official Body re Animal Grazing) to better manage cattle and other ranges. Livestock that would travel more than 15 km to find water currently benefit from the water points in the Reserve...