Senegal

With a rainfall that does not last more than three months and is between 300-500 millimetres, Louga be-longs to the Sahelian zone where temperatures are high throughout the year, particularly in Djolof (De-partment of Linguere) where heat is legendary. With a population of 803,485 inhabitants in 2008 or 6.8% of the national population, the region of Louga has an average density of 32 inhabitants per square kilometres. One should also note that more than 50% of the total population is under 20-year old.

The rain-fed agriculture, the breeding of small ruminants and fishing are the populations’ dominant activi-ties. The regional economy is punctuated by weekly markets where local products are marketed and those in neighbouring provinces. International migration has become, during the decade 1980/1990, an unexpected dimension in Ndiambour. It is based on the success-oriented imaginary of Djily Mbaye who made his fortune in Africa. Pa Djily, as he is fondly called, has radically changed the urban face of Louga with his “palace” and the residential areas built in that capital.

The first departures targeted France and date back to the early 1980s with people like El H. Ousmane Kan-teye and Demba Diop. They coincided with an unprecedented drought which forced the majority of people to exile themselves to Dakar, Thies and Kaolack. Gathered under the Association of Emigrants from Niomre whose creation dates back to 1978, the migrants have highly contributed to the local development of the area (cf. Cisse 2004; Ndiaye 2007). Formerly chaired by El Hadji Ousmane Kanteye, the association is now led by two Coordinators: Tall Mango based in Italy and Mbargane Thiam who lives in Spain. Private investments by migrants are numerous. They are especially visible in the transformation of the habitat which has no cause to be jealous of the residential areas found in urban centres in terms of its quality and equipment.

Darou Mousty - which is our area of study - belongs to the ancient kingdom of Cayor. It is located in contact with both the forestry-pasture area and groundnut cultivation areas. As the second city of Muridism and important religious centre, Darou Mouhty - as Mame Thierno Birahim who founded it in 1912 named it following instructions from his brother Ahmadou Bamba - is located 25 kilometres away from the holy city of Touba, whose demographic and spatial growth rate is exceptionally important. Located in the region of Louga, the rural community of Darou Mousty had in 2009 an estimated population of 23,676 inhabitants (2009 Administrative Census) who are primarily engaged in agriculture and trade. The rural community of Darou Mousty consists of 73 villages, some of which are folded in some districts in Darou Mousty whose people give the names of their villages of origin. Such is the case of Koki Gueye whose inhabitants keep their farmlands which they cultivate during winter ploughing.

The importance of volume of international migration is the other dominant feature of Darou. Our interlocutors noted that “there is no family without migrant in Darou Mousty.” International migration has been built up on the basis of family and Sufi relationships places from shopping areas of Rebeuss in Dakar, Marseille in France and New York in the United States of America (Ebin 1993). It soon reaches southern Europe including Italy, which is currently a pivotal country as for the migration of people from Darou. In addition to supporting their families, migrants’ investments are visible in habitat level. Some returnees have invested in business and cattle breeding. Migrants involved in the comings and goings between their country of residence and Senegal are becoming more common among older migrants. There is also a result of the crisis, an extension of migrants’ stay and increasing number of returns in periods considered to be unusual for holidays.

Among the number of community initiatives taken by the migrants and the Youth Association of Darou Mousty in Italy (AJEDI), there is the creation of the Mutual Loan and Savings Association of Darou Mousty that has now 701 memberships.

The region of Diourbel, commonly referred to as Baol in memory of the historic kingdom that developed in the area, covers an area of 4,769 square kilometres, which accounts for 2.4% of the national territory. Located in the central part of Senegal, the region is divided into three departments: Bambey, Diourbel and Mbacke. In 1976, three departments of Louga, Kebemer and Linguere were detached from Diourbel to create the region of Louga. The region has a Sudano-Sahelian-type weather with a long dry season which only allows, in the absence of perennial rivers, the farming of groundnut and speculations like cowpea over the vast expanses of red soils or dior soils. The evolution of the region’s population shows a steady growth peak in the 2000s when there was a high settlement growth in Touba. With an average of 221 inhabitants per square kilometre, the population density is one of the strongest in the country.

If the town of Diourbel, which is the administrative capital of the region, offers the look of a dead city, Touba, the capital of Muridism - is still considered to be a large village town - knows an unprecedented population explosion in Senegal: 462,000 in 2002 and 530,000 in 2007. The region’s population growth is mainly driven by the department of Mbacké and the holy city of Touba. Indeed, the subdivision and equipment program, initiated by the Murid community’s religious leader, has continued to attract followers who receive free allocation of plots.

The urban population resides in the localities of Bambey (13%), Diourbel (55, 6%) and Mbacke (31, 3%). At the sectarian level, it should be noted, alongside the Muslim majority and Murids, the existence of a Catholic minority in some Serer areas including Bambey and its hinterland. This is symbolized by the unusual presence of pigs in the streets and alleys. Koranic education in Murid daaras is the most wide-spread form of education. This explains why the region of Diourbel had the lowest gross enrolment rate in 2008, pegged at 53.1%, and primary school completion rate estimated at 30, 8%. What is strongly noted is the low level of education in French, particularly among girls. While primary education is making progress in mid-rural area, it is also important to note the absence of school facilities in the holy city of Touba because of fierce opposition from the religious leaders of the area.

One of the notables of Dinguiraye stresses that “the region of Baba Garage has gradually become a Landange (unproductive area) or even a tak (zone without resources). It follows that Baol is now the poorest area of Senegal while in the 1950s groundnut production reached record high ... I remember once my father alone produced 30 tons of groundnuts and 100 tons of millet” (Interview with Modou Ndiaye, May 27, 2009). The local economic activity is organized around the weekly markets of Lambaye (Thursday), Gawane (Friday), Touba Toul (Saturday) and Bambey Serer (Monday).

There is certainly little statistical evidence on international migrants, but anecdotal evidence can help as-sert that Touba occupies a special place in the Senegalese migration phenomenon. Indeed, it is both a place of departure and return for many international migrants. It is also relevant to note that many migrant families have settled there to enjoy, in addition, free plots of valuable facilities such as the migrant-funded Matlaboul Fawzeyni hospital. Many are the returning migrants or engaged in comings and goings who have invested in the holy city. It is also common to hear say that Touba has killed the villages of Cayor and Baol because of the mass exodus departure to the religious city.

The degradation of the local environmental conditions has led many people in the department of Lambaye to rely on local migration networks in a bid to try their luck in urban centres in Senegal and more recently overseas. The isolation of the province is combined with a kind of more austere nature which makes it almost impossible for human development. Rural exodus has been an early response for people, particularly those living in the area of Lambaye, who have engaged in business activities around the port of Dakar, in particular in Pack Lambaye located in former Gambetta Avenue-turned Lamine Gueye Avenue. The Lambaye-Lambaye control today trade in slops which was partly shifted to Pikine. International migration is a phenomenon that is growing rapidly in the province of Lambaye.

Dakar is the domain of a pleasant microclimate related to the influence of maritime trade winds that al-most guarantees a cool weather annually. Another characteristic of the geography of Dakar is the presence of shallow groundwater in the inter dune depressions that characterize the landscape. This includes Niayes zones that are valuable areas of market gardening and fruits. In 2007, the population of Dakar was estimated at 2,428,155 inhabitants, of whom 50.1% were men against 49.9% women. This represented 21.4% of 11,360,985 of the population of Senegal. This is the country’s most populated region since it is the most equipped with economic, social and cultural infrastructures. This earned it a very popular destination for rural people while its location earns it also a great location and area of transit for international migrants.

More than three quarters of the population live in the districts of Dakar (39.9%) and Pikine (35.5%) fol-lowed by Guediawaye (12.0%) and Rufisque (12.6%). The average regional density - the highest in the country – is pegged at about 4,500 inhabitants per square kilometre. It varies according to the area cov-ered: 22,569 inhabitants per square kilometre in Guediawaye, 12,337 in Dakar, 9,944 in Pikine and 821 in Rufisque. 97.2% of the population of Dakar live in urban areas against 2.8% who live in the two rural com-munities located in the Department of Rufisque: Yenne and Sangalkam. The growth rate of over 4% recorded between 1976 and 1988 in Dakar has now stabilized at around 2.5%. It is certainly less important but led to a doubling of the population every 25 years. With the Ecochard plan, the city of Dakar has radically changed its face with the eviction of intra-urban slums to Pikine then Guediawaye. The “African districts” on the outskirts of Dakar were cut now by a vast no man’s land filled with new habitat areas: Hann Marist, Parcelles Assainies and Golf, etc.

Dakar is Senegal’s political, economic and cultural capital. It is a macro-cephalous city built up in the image of the former colonial capitals of Africa as Abidjan or Conakry. Major efforts have, however, been made to relieve the traffic congestion on Dakar. The establishment, in all the districts of the town, of bank branches formerly concentrated in the Plateau area is a perfect illustration. As Senegal’s first university town, Dakar is home to an impressive number of public and private schools. These attract a student population coming from the Maghreb and all African countries, in particular Gabon. As the country’s administrative capital, Dakar is also Senegal’s main economic hub because all infrastructures merge on its soil. It is in the peninsula of Cape Verde that 86% of the country’s industrial units are located. As a high place of national economic activity and international business centre, Dakar, thanks to its deep water port and its international-class airport, is a trade stronghold with the world, especially with Europe.

Informal activity constitutes the first strategy out of poverty for both rural migrants who have come to settle in the cities and all young people who arrive each year on the job market. The informal sector - formerly called non-structured sector - is with the government, the largest job provider and first source of income for many Senegalese people. The “wild” occupation of the streets that characterizes the informal sector and the shortfall, which is for the government and local governments, the non-payment of business taxes, have led government to consider reorganizing the informal sector.

Along with departures, it is noted that Dakar has always been a host destination for international migrants because of its geographical location, prestige inherited from colonization, but also because of its cultural vitality. This explains why half of the international migrants recorded in Senegal during the years 1997-2002 had settled in the Senegalese capital. Migrants from Dakar have a clear preference for northern countries, including America and Southern Europe, which have taken it over from France.

The Municipal district of Golf Sud, which is our study area, appears in many respects as a shortcut to the urban landscape of the Senegalese capital. Located halfway between the city itself and the suburb, Golf Sud consists in architectural terms of four sets: the so-called popular districts, “the housing developments”, the “cities” and the residential districts. The “popular districts” host the populations that were formerly expelled from the intra-urban slums of Dakar in the 1970s: Fith Mith, Gulf Sud. The “housing developments” that correspond to the districts of Parcelles Assainies called “Units” which were built up as part of the Habitat Program of the greatest number supported by the World Bank in the 1980s. The “cities” are the housing areas built up on the same model by state-owned property developers (HLM Las Palmas, Hamo, Teachers’ City, etc.) or private property developers (SHS). These include houses acquired under hire purchase contracts through the channel of the Banque de l’Habitat du Sénégal (Housing Bank of Senegal). The luxury neighbourhoods host the well-offs. This is the case, for example, of Jardins de Camberene, Cite Faysal-turned Senegalese state property, which houses Senegalese officials.

Wedged between the Great coast and Great Niaye zone of Pikine, the town of Golf Sud, which gets its name from the nearby former golf course now decommissioned and rebuilt around the ponds of Niaye zone of Pikine, faces significant environmental problems. Indeed, the habitat areas bordering the lake depression or Niaye zone are throughout the year mosquito-infested while residents of the Atlantic coast watch helplessly the destruction of beefwood designed to hinder the advance of the sea but also the extraction of wild marine sand by shady carters. In the absence of industrial activity, the town of Golf Sud offers the appearance of a vast dormitory city for “cities” staff and many informal workers who often have to travel to Dakar. The main areas of activity are the markets, the most important of which is that of the Case located at the roundabout of Camberène, the numerous artisan workshops of all kinds as well as the commerce shops lining the main roads, etc.

Located in north-eastern Senegal, the region of Matam belongs to the part named Fouta which corre-sponds to the country’s oldest population hub and the site of the first Senegalese kingdom: the Tekrour. It is also the gateway to Islam that shaped the local culture.

Founded in 2002, the region of Matam covers an area of 29,616 square kilometres, or about one seventh of the national territory. It is now the country’s largest region. The terrain is relatively flat compared to the rest of the country. It is characterized by a vast plain incised by valleys. Climatically, the region is located in the Sahelian and Sudano-Sahelian area, which gives it a diverse natural environment and a rich and quite favourable ecological environment. Coupled with the continued decline in rainfall, desert encroachment has a negative impact on the Sahelian environment which is already heavily marked by drought. The Senegal River borders Mauritania. Only few spots Senegalese villages are located on the right bank. Such a situation is often a source of land disputes, which resulted in the 1989-1991 crises.

In 1989, a clash between farmers and pastoralists that claimed deaths of people along the valley sparked manhunt by the communities of both countries. That led Mauritania to expel its black African citizens who fled to Senegal. Estimated at 650,000, their return was initiated in 2008 under the auspices of the UNHCR. The crisis between the two countries is certainly resolved politically, but a return to hostility cannot be excluded because the underlying and periodical tensions between populations on either side of the river are still regarded as a watershed. Indeed, the Valley residents complain about their relative neglect by the Senegalese government and the many humiliations by Mauritanians (white) in retaliation for support given to black Mauritanians (the Beïdanes).

In 2007, the population of the region of Matam was estimated at 492,032 inhabitants, comprising 52.4% women and 58.5% children under 20 years old. The region’s natural growth rate increase was pegged at 3.02%. Two major ethnic groups make up the regional population: the Haalpular, who are the majority ethnic group, and the Soninke, a minority with their own districts in the villages. The average density is 17 inhabitants per square kilometres. There is a large concentration of population along the river or dande mayo and some large villages in the Dieri.

The migration history of the Senegal River Valley indicates that the populations of the Valley are among, along with the Mandjack of Casamance, the first Senegalese workers in France. They arrived in France soon after World War I following the lifting of the ban on landing of seamen employed in the home ports of the transatlantic ocean-going (Diarra 1968). It is noted that the largest migration from the Senegal Valley dates back from the 1970s. No village in the valley is spared from internal and international mobility that has emerged as a credible alternative to poverty.

The experience acquired by the Haalpular and Soninke ethnic groups whose migration and mobilization tradition for developing the lands of origin are well established and are a major issue in the region (Daum 1993; Lanly 1998; Quiminal 1991). Indeed, the village of migrants’ associations, whose involvement in the development of their land is a feature of Fouta, function as a true civil society. The knock-on effects of migration on the regional level are visible everywhere: school infrastructure, health, water, etc. The actions undertaken for over thirty years by migrants have significantly contributed to the survival of native villages.

Orkadiéré is a Fulani area (88%) where cattle breeding is the main activity. Rain-fed agriculture is side by side with irrigated agriculture in the village areas. Like the villages in Damga, Orkadiéré is a great emigra-tion hub: 1,079 of a total population of 32,533 people. The migration space of local people has gradually expanded. France, which hosted the pioneers of the migration, is home to more than half of the migrants surveyed in the borough. Australia, Zambia, Angola, Cote d'Ivoire, Congo Kinshasa, Spain, Italy and more recently the U.S. host a limited number of persons originating from Orkadiéré.

The contribution of migrants to local development is done within the framework of associative structures, the first of which are ADERCO (Association for the Development and Nationals Orkadiéré Nationals) and UROF (Union of Orkadiéré Nationals in France). As real local development players, these associations con-tribute to improving profitably the living environment by offsetting the absence of the State. Many ana-lysts believe that had there not been migration, Orkadiéré and Damga would have already been wiped off the map of Senegal.