The New African Living Standard 

Saturday, February 6, 2021

LAHINE NDAO, Agriculture Unexploited Opportunity in Africa/Senegal

Know it or not, we all depend on Agriculture. It is one of the most important sectors for the development
of a country and a continent. After more than sixty years of independence, many African countries
including Senegal keep depending on their former colonists and other foreign countries to feed their
people.

It’s so sad since no country can be independent while waiting for others to come to feed its people. Africa
is the continent with the most arable and fertile land where the climate is more favorable for agriculture.
According to FAO Africa has nearly 60% of its land not cultivated. Among the assets of the continent in
terms of agriculture, one can add the high rate of young people living it. Africa has the youngest
population in the world. However, hunger and food insecurity are realities in the continent. For instance, a
country like Senegal is still struggling to attend the level of food sufficiency.
Despite all the policies and attempts to solve these problems, the country is still wasting its resources just
to feed its population. I truly believe that the opportunities of the agricultural sector are misused and the
job of farming minimized while the farmer is marginalized in his/her own country. Since we all depend
on agriculture why not reconsider its actors who produce food? As a solution for the rapid development of
our beloved country and continent, we need to reconsider, reinvent, reorganize, reinvest in agriculture
because the sector has many more to give.

A reconsideration of the area and its actors are mandatory. The government should reorganize the sector
by giving more tools and equipment to the farmers. The land spoliation must stop and the land was given
to the so-called guest in the field to the detriment of the farmers taken back.

It is the farmer who brings order to the chaos of pollution and resource destruction. Image courtesy of
the guest.

Otherwise, it can lead to instability. Nowadays, technology and science are necessary for good and rapid
development and it passes through the formation. So a reinvention must apply in agriculture to better form
farmers in the use of technology to multiply their crops and production. All this will happen through a
reinvestment.

A demystification of African cities like Dakar and many more are necessary. We all know or hear about
young people deserting their villages in favor of cities. A back to the roots call is much more important to
exploit the potential in rural areas. Many of those young people are living in misery in those cities while
looking for a better life. So a reconsideration of the farmer and his/her job is imperative in the
development process. Governments should decentralize some institutions in villages and other regions so
the high rate of the exodus can be reduced. A reinvestment in those areas is an obligation and a
reinforcement of the farming sector too. The reinvestment also requires a readjustment of the traditional
method of farming and eradicates corruption which gangrenes the sector particularly at its highest level.

LAHINE NDAO CEO: NATANGUE FARM SENEGAL/ WEST AFRICA Lahinekaf@gmail.com

Whatsapp: +221772301815

About Lahine Ndao, the CEO of Natangue Farm Senegal

Our special guest provided a resume of his previous roles, to include with this report. You may recall Mr.
Ndao from a previous issue….

Lahine Ndao’s bio

Lahine Ndao is a young Senegalese entrepreneur, farmer, and cultural activist. Since his early teenage
years, he was involved in a lot of youth activities in Kaffrine (central region of Senegal), where he studied
before being referred to the English department of the Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar.

He is the manager of a rap group called SIX SEE, president of JADCU: African Youth for the
Development of Urban Cultures, director of the festival WANE SA BOPP, Representative of the
American NGO named GREENGELO TV in Senegal and West Africa, and founder of NATANGUE
FARM, a structure evolving in agriculture and agribusiness.

Lahine Ndao's memberships included the international association ‘LA PANGEE’ where he actively
promoted all the socio-cultural and sportive activities.

In this role, Lahine was assigned the task of organizing meetings, as well as setting up all conferences and
travels within the association. He also volunteered with MERCY SHIPS during their service in Dakar
from August 2019 to March 2020. Lahine is the initiator of the first edition of the Poetry Contest for
students of the Kaffrine region with Greengelo TV, and also YOUTH WEEKEND. He recently
participated in the intensive training of YALDI cohort 2 (Young African Development Leadership
Institute) with many young leaders from all over Africa.

His leadership and dedication to his community resulted in an article about him and his involvements
published by THE NEW AFRICAN LIVING STANDARD magazine in November 2019. Lahine Ndao
also authored a recent article entitled: AGRICULTURE UNEXPLOITED OPPORTUNITY IN
AFRICA/SENEGAL.
He is the coordinator of the pole center of the Environmentalists gathering four regions. And Member of
the FSAE: Senegalese Federation of Environment Actors. He was nominated as 2020‘s Best Entrepreneur
of the year in Kaffrine. Contact: lahinekaf@gmail.com Whatsapp: +221772301815

Great achievements have yet to come.

FirmRock Children’s Helper, a charity in Mwingi Prefecture, Kenya, is raising money to support kids
with school uniforms and other scholastic materials. Learn more at ​GoGetFunding.