Speakers:

The diverse panel included: 

• Djibril Pam, General Secretary of Société coopérative Podor Fouta 1

• Talla Mboup, Co-founder of Agrosoft,

• Oumar Sy, Head of the Bureau de Suivi des Organisations d'Auto Promotion (BSOAP), Ministry of Agriculture

• Magatte Ndoye, Senior Consultant, Cooperative Societies, PACAO - WACOMP Senegal

• Malick Ndiaye, Director of CGER Walo

The panel was moderated by Mamadou Djigo of Kaikai. The panel was moderated by Mamadou Djigo from Kaikai, and included representatives from other agricultural cooperatives, as well as a number of people with an interest in agritech.

Challenges raised:

The challenges outlined during the webinar underline the complexity of the digital transformation of Senegalese agricultural cooperatives. Djibril Pam highlighted the challenges of co-op membership, calling for a modern, digital approach. Talla Mboup from Agrosoft spoke of the need to simplify the use of digital tools for farmers, including those who are illiterate.

Fatou Camara from UGB also expressed the challenge of data collection, stressing that this is an essential aspect for effective appropriation of digitalization. This same challenge was raised by speaker Suqali Mbay in these terms "speaking of digitalization, there's a lot of data to collect, analyze, and interconnect, unfortunately this is what constitutes the main obstacle to the optimal use of digital."

Solutions already deployed:

Participants shared existing solutions during the webinar. Magatte Ndoye from PACAO highlighted the digital platform for registering and licensing cooperative societies deployed in Senegal's 14 regions. 

Talla Mboup, co-founder of Agrosoft, mentioned the development of IT tools for crop forecasting, enabling cooperatives to better plan marketing, as well as the optimization of resources with tools promoting more efficient farming methods.

Recommendations:

Recommendations from the webinar focus on awareness, professionalization and collaboration. PACAO's Magatte Ndoye recommends raising awareness of the importance of digitalization among players in agricultural cooperatives. The Ministry of Agriculture, represented by Oumar Sy, insists on adapting digital tools to the specific needs of farmers to guarantee lower expenses.

Malick Ndiaye from CGER Walo, stressed the need to create digital tools that can be used by farmers, even illiterate ones. 

There was no shortage of recommendations from the webinar participants. Cheikh Mbacké addressed resistance to change, calling for data-driven funding to support the process of digitizing agricultural cooperatives.

The representative of the Matam agricultural cooperative welcomed the fact that we had thought of organizing this event, underlining the real relevance of the subject. He also made a plea to the Senegalese government to provide strong support for the initiative to digitize agricultural cooperatives, so that it can become a powerful lever in the fight against poverty.

Conclusion The webinar clearly demonstrated that digitalization is essential for the future of Senegalese agricultural cooperatives. Testimonials highlighted the importance of raising awareness, adapting technologies to local needs, and collaboration between the various players.

Mamadou Djigo underlined Kaikai's ongoing commitment to the digital transformation of Senegal's agricultural sector, presenting innovative initiatives to support SMEs on their digital journey. In particular, Kaikai has set up a digital transformation diagnostic tool to support agricultural and non-agricultural SMEs in their transformation process.

The road to modern, profitable agriculture in Senegal lies in close collaboration between cooperatives, government, startups and organizations such as PACAO, with a particular focus on awareness-raising, local adaptation and the professionalization of players in the sector.