The African Forum on Food Systems 2025, opened at Diamniadio under the presidency of Bassirou Diomaye Faye, was a strong platform to reaffirm the strategic role of the Délégation générale à l’Entrepreneuriat Rapide des Femmes et des Jeunes (DER/FJ). In a context where the challenges of food sovereignty and the resilience of agricultural systems are confronting the entire continent, the President of the Republic welcomed the work of financing and non-financial support carried out by the DER/FJ, recalling that it already constitutes a proven lever for economic transformation. The flagship initiatives such as the Programme de Résilience et de Soutien à l’Agriculture (PRSA) and the Programme d’Appui et de Valorisation des Initiatives Entrepreneuriales (PAVIE) have demonstrated that the DER/FJ knows how to combine innovation, proximity and efficiency. Through its interventions, it has enabled thousands of actors in agriculture and the agri-food sector to reach a decisive milestone in terms of productivity, market access and job creation. It is in this logic that the ambitious project of the 3 000 connected farms, an initiative that combines digitization, mechanization and agricultural intelligence, is now taking shape. The objective is clear: to transform family and semi-industrial agriculture into a sustainable growth engine, capable of feeding Senegal and contributing to African food security. Under the enlightened vision of Dr Aïssatou Mbodji, the DER/FJ has gained a genuine new impetus. It is designed to accelerate the pace, to strengthen the hopes of entrepreneurs and to reassure the authorities of its role as an arm of the policy of entrepreneurial support for women and young people.
African Forum of Food Systems 2025: The DER/FJ and the 3 000 connected farms
