IFAD / SENEGAL MIGRANTS
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STORY: IFAD / SENEGAL MIGRANTS
TRT: 12:24
SOURCE: IFAD
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT IFAD ON SCREEN
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / FRENCH / WOLOF / NATS
DATELINE: 30 JUNE - 03 JULY 2024, MBOUR, KAFOUNTINE, NGOUNDIANE, NIANTA, SENEGAL
30 JUNE - 03 JULY 2024, MBOUR, SENEGAL
1. Various shots, aerial views of the sea
2. Various shots, fishing votes
3. Various shots, aerial views of boats unloading fish
30 JUNE - 03 JULY 2024, KAFOUNTINE, SENEGAL
4. Various shots, boats loading fishing net
30 JUNE - 03 JULY 2024, MBOUR, SENEGAL
5. Various shots, aerial views of boats fishing
6. Wide shot, man standing on the beach
7. SOUNDBITE (Wolof) Samuel, Fisher, Senegal:
“There is nothing you can catch from the sea. Yesterday, when I was back, I earned only 1000cfa. I used them to pay for my lunch and my dinner. Today, one of my big brothers offered me breakfast. You know if you work that way, you will never be able to save money.”
8. Various shots, youths hanging around at the beach and in the street
9. SOUNDBITE (Wolof) Baye, Fisher, Senegal:
“People invest a lot of money in fishing activities. Unfortunately, they lose it. That's also why people choose to go.”
10. Wide shot, beach
11. SOUNDBITE (Wolof) Baye, Fisher, Senegal:
“If I happen to go to Spain, I would be able to work in the fields or learn a new job.”
30 JUNE - 03 JULY 2024, ELINKINE, SENEGAL
12. Various shots, young men working on boats
13. Wide shot, boat being brought in from the sea
14. Aerial shot, boat coming in
30 JUNE - 03 JULY 2024, MBOUR, SENEGAL
15. Various shots, aerial views of fishing boats
16. Various shots, boat departing
17. Various shots, Ousmane Demba, fisherman, going out in his boat
30 JUNE - 03 JULY 2024, KAFOUNTINE, SENEGAL
18. Aerial shot, Ousmane Demba working on his boat
19. SOUNDBITE (Wolof) Ousmane Demba, Fisher, Senegal:
“I've often thought about emigrating illegally, but I never thought I'd do it. I only tried it once and that was the first time. It was the end of 2023, but hadn't succeeded, we were almost in Spain, but the fuel ran out. “We ran out of fuel on the 5th day. According to our GPS, we were 200 km from Spain. On the 14th day, people started to die. There were 34 dead in the pirogue, and they were thrown into the sea. There were over 80 people in the boat. We spent 22 days at sea, the food was finished, there was no more water. We had nothing to eat.”
20. Various shots, Adama Mane, Agrijeunes beneficiary and fish processor, working in the fish processing site
21. Various shots, Adama with her husband Ousamane
22. SOUNDBITE (Wolof) Adama Mane, Fisher:
“I used to work, but I didn't have enough money. I used to work as a scaler. Then I met a young man who took me to Bignone for a 15-day training course in food processing. They taught us how to prepare food properly and how to protect it so that it can be eaten safely. Before, I used to buy small quantities, but the financing gave me the courage to buy large quantities and process them. Before the funding, sometimes I couldn't even buy 3 boxes of fish, which is the equivalent of 50,000 FCFA. ($80 US) But now I can buy and process up to FCFA 200,000 ($320 US) and FCFA 250,000 ($400 US) worth of fish. Yes, now I can do a lot of things that I couldn't have imagined before the funding. Now I help my husband with his daily expenses and the children's school fees. And I couldn't do that before.”
23. Various shots, Lansana Badji, from Tenghory, Agrijeunes project participant and farmer, working in his farm
24. SOUNDBITE (French) Lansana Badji, Agrijeunes Beneficiary and Farmer:
“I have tried to migrate. I have worked a little bit in the small farms that are there. At some point I thought I was going to go back home. What I have left home is what I am doing here in Mauritania in the fields. I came back to focus on my own activities and since then I am here.”
25. Various shots, Badji harvesting lettuce and mangoes in his farm.
26. SOUNDBITE (French) Lansana Badji, Agrijeunes Beneficiary and Farmer:
“With the project I can earn 1.800.000 (FCFA) until 2 million (FCFA) per year. With what I earn I could feed my family and pay my children’s school fees.”
27. Various shots, Badji teaching students in his farm
28. SOUNDBITE (English) Matteo Marchisio, Senegal Country Director, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD):
“The interesting part is if you ask the people particularly the young people particularly in the countryside, they will say they would rather prefer to stay where they live if they have the opportunity than to migrate and even earn more. So, I think it’s very important for second this desire provide them the opportunity at least to choose.”
30 JUNE - 03 JULY 2024, NGOUNDIANE, SENEGAL
29. Various shots, Anta Sarr, Agrijeunes beneficiary and farmer, working in her field with her colleagues
30. SOUNDBITE (French) Anta Sarr, Agrijeunes Beneficiary and Farmer:
“Thanks to Agrijeunes we could invest in our territory. And remain here, believing in a better future. A day will come when we will be big agriculture entrepreneurs, here in our land.”
31. Wide shot, Sarr working in her field with her colleagues
Climate change and lack of employment opportunities in countries like Senegal, have seen thousands of young men risking their lives to pursue new lives in Europe, but a UN-funded project in the country is offering them an alternative.
Illegal immigration is a hot topic, which featured prominently in recent national elections across Europe, including in the United Kingdom and France. In 2023, the number of asylum seekers from countries such as Senegal and Mauritania landing on Spain’s Canary Islands reached a near record of 40,000 people, more than double the 2022 number, according to the Spanish government.
The Atlantic Ocean plays an important role in the lives of many Senegalese people. It has long been a rich source of income for Senegal’s fisherfolk, offering plentiful fish to catch, eat and sell.
But in recent years it offers a very different attraction, the chance to set sail for a new life and better employment opportunities abroad. One of the reasons is plain to see on the streets of Senegal. Two-thirds of the population do not have access to a living wage.
20-year-old Samuel is a fisherman but struggles to catch enough fish to feed himself every day.
SOUNDBITE (Wolof) Samuel, Fisher, Senegal:
“There is nothing you can catch from the sea. Yesterday, when I was back, I earned only 1000cfa. I used them to pay for my lunch and my dinner. Today, one of my big brothers offered me breakfast. You know if you work that way, you will never be able to save money.”
Baye is 26 years old. He has a fishing boat but says it’s not worth him using it and is planning to migrate if he gets the chance.
SOUNDBITE (Wolof) Baye, Fisher, Senegal:
“People invest a lot of money in fishing activities. Unfortunately, they lose it. That's also why people choose to go.”
SOUNDBITE (Wolof) Baye, Fisher, Senegal:
“If I happen to go to Spain, I would be able to work in the fields or learn a new job.”
But the journey is not without risk. Due to the strict anti-migrant controls in the Mediterranean Sea, human traffickers from Africa have resorted to using the Atlantic Ocean route to smuggle people to Europe. The route is dangerous, due to the strong currents along the way. Also, the migrants are often piled onto overloaded, unseaworthy boats that also lack an experienced crew or adequate fuel and without enough supplies for the journey.
According to the Spanish charity organization Caminando Fronteras, in the first five months of this year more than 5,000 asylum seekers have died on route to Spain by sea.
Earlier this month a migrants' boat capsized and sank off the coast of Mauritania, leaving at least 89 migrants dead. Ousmane Demba tried unsuccessfully to get to the Canary Islands, with tragic consequences.
SOUNDBITE (Wolof) Ousmane Demba, Fisher, Senegal:
“I've often thought about emigrating illegally, but I never thought I'd do it. I only tried it once and that was the first time. It was the end of 2023, but hadn't succeeded, we were almost in Spain, but the fuel ran out. “We ran out of fuel on the 5th day. According to our GPS, we were 200 km from Spain. On the 14th day, people started to die. There were 34 dead in the pirogue, and they were thrown into the sea. There were over 80 people in the boat. We spent 22 days at sea, the food was finished, there was no more water. We had nothing to eat.”
The UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the government of Senegal set up the Agrijeunes project to offer young men and women a viable alternative to stay in Senegal, supporting them with agricultural training and skills that can create more than 25,000 new job opportunities.
Adama Mane, Ousmane Demba’s wife is part of the project.
SOUNDBITE (Wolof) Adama Mane, Fisher:
“I used to work, but I didn't have enough money. I used to work as a scaler. Then I met a young man who took me to Bignone for a 15-day training course in food processing. They taught us how to prepare food properly and how to protect it so that it can be eaten safely. Before, I used to buy small quantities, but the financing gave me the courage to buy large quantities and process them. Before the funding, sometimes I couldn't even buy 3 boxes of fish, which is the equivalent of 50,000 FCFA. ($80 US) But now I can buy and process up to FCFA 200,000 ($320 US) and FCFA 250,000 ($400 US) worth of fish. Yes, now I can do a lot of things that I couldn't have imagined before the funding. Now I help my husband with his daily expenses and the children's school fees. And I couldn't do that before.”
Lansana Badji, also tried to migrate to Europe, but only made it as far as Mauritania.
SOUNDBITE (French) Lansana Badji, Agrijeunes Beneficiary and Farmer:
“I have tried to migrate. I have worked a little bit in the small farms that are there. At some point I thought I was going to go back home. What I have left home is what I am doing here in Mauritania in the fields. I came back to focus on my own activities and since then I am here.”
Thanks to training and support from the project, he now runs an orange and mango growing business. He is happy to be living and working in his home village.
SOUNDBITE (French) Lansana Badji, Agrijeunes Beneficiary and Farmer:
“With the project I can earn 1.800.000 (FCFA) until 2 million (FCFA) per year. With what I earn I could feed my family and pay my children’s school fees.”
Since the start of the project, he has also trained more than 100 young students, offering much needed extra employment in the area.
SOUNDBITE (English) Matteo Marchisio, Senegal Country Director, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD):
“The interesting part is if you ask the people particularly the young people particularly in the countryside, they will say they would rather prefer to stay where they live if they have the opportunity than to migrate and even earn more. So, I think it’s very important for second this desire provide them the opportunity at least to choose.”
SOUNDBITE (French) Anta Sarr, Agrijeunes Beneficiary and Farmer:
“Thanks to Agrijeunes we could invest in our territory. And remain here, believing in a better future. A day will come when we will be big agriculture entrepreneurs, here in our land.”
Critics may argue this project is a small drop in the ocean for an issue that affects millions of people in Senegal, but if successful, the aim is to roll it out to other areas, offering more young people the chance to pursue successful, profitable, and sustainable careers in their home country of Senegal.