Climate Change Adaptation in Senegal: Strategies, Initiatives, and Practices

The paper examines Senegal's vulnerability to climate change, its existing national adaptation frameworks, and the systemic gaps that hinder effective local implementation. It highlights the disconnect between high-level policy design and the actual needs of local actors, advocating for a bottom-up approach to climate resilience.

• Senegal is highly vulnerable to climate change due to its geography in the Sahelian zone and its extensive coastline. Projections from the Ministry of the Economy, Finance, and Planning suggest that a temperature increase of 1°C to 2°C by 2050 could result in a productivity drop of approximately 25%.
• The government has integrated climate adaptation into the Senegal Emerging Plan (PSE) for 2035 and the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). While fisheries and livestock have finalized national adaptation plans, other sectors like agriculture, infrastructure, food, and health are currently conducting vulnerability studies in five regions: Ziguinchor, Kédougou, Kaffrine, Matam, and Saint-Louis.
• Climate finance in Senegal is primarily driven by the state budget and multilateral grants, with the Global Environment Fund (GEF) being the largest multilateral provider, awarding USD 473.04 million across 94 projects. Specific funding under the PSE Priority Action Plan (2014-2018) included USD 412.5 million for family farming and USD 386.4 million for water and sanitation.
• There is a significant gap in climate finance access for local authorities and communities due to a lack of capacity to organize projects or mobilize funds. Private sector finance remains marginal relative to the country's needs.
• Current climate action in Senegal is characterized by a top-down approach that often ignores local and endogenous knowledge. The author identifies five primary barriers: poor integration of climate risks in sectoral planning, financing inequalities, weak technical capacity for innovation transfer, low consideration of local needs, and the absence of a performance monitoring system like MRV.
• The paper advocates for Locally Led Adaptation (LLA), where local stakeholders set their own agendas and manage resources. This shift is presented as a way to unlock community creativity and ensure more equitable access to resources, aligning with Act III of decentralization.

APA

Sy, I. (2022). Climate Change Adaptation in Senegal: Strategies, Initiatives, and Practices. Africa Policy Research Institute. https://afripoli.org/climate-change-adaptation-in-senegal-strategies-initiatives-and-practices

Chicago

Sy, Ibrahima. Climate Change Adaptation in Senegal: Strategies, Initiatives, and Practices. Africa Policy Research Institute, 2022. https://afripoli.org/climate-change-adaptation-in-senegal-strategies-initiatives-and-practices.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Sy |first1=Ibrahima |title=Climate Change Adaptation in Senegal: Strategies, Initiatives, and Practices |publisher=Africa Policy Research Institute |date=10 October 2022 |url=https://afripoli.org/climate-change-adaptation-in-senegal-strategies-initiatives-and-practices |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{sy2022climate, author = {Sy, Ibrahima}, title = {{Climate Change Adaptation in Senegal: Strategies, Initiatives, and Practices}}, institution = {Africa Policy Research Institute}, year = {2022}, month = oct, url = {https://afripoli.org/climate-change-adaptation-in-senegal-strategies-initiatives-and-practices}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }