Agroecology for Resilient Territories in Senegal: an approach through collaborative platforms and artistic communication

Agri-food systems in Senegal and the broader Sahel region face significant challenges in ensuring food security, environmental sustainability, and social justice. The region has been grappling with the negative consequences of increasingly globalized industrial food systems, accelerating land degradation, biodiversity loss, climate change impacts, and persistent ine-quality. To tackle these pressing issues, there is a growing need for a transition towards more sustainable and equitable food systems.

Agroecology, an approach that combines ecological principles with traditional agricultural practices, has been gaining momentum in the Sahel as a potential solution to many of these problems. Despite this potential, agroecology in the region faces several knowledge gaps and barriers to widespread adoption.

To address these challenges and unleash the full potential of agroecology in the Sahel, it is crucial to bridge knowledge gaps, build collective action, and develop transformative path-ways that can foster a more sustainable, fair, and inclusive agri-food system in the region. The ARTS project brings together cutting-edge science (feminist agroecology, institutional-ist approaches, socio-anthropology, land system), arts, creative communication and innovate participatory methods to foster systemic transformations in Senegalese food systems.

The ARTS project aims to contribute to creating a more sustainable and just food system in Senegal. It seeks to co-construct solution-oriented transdisciplinary knowledge, methods and practical tools, combining environmental social sciences and art-based participatory meth-ods to facilitate transformations toward sustainable and equitable Agroecology-based Terri-torialized Food Systems in Senegal (ATFS).

The ARTS project is a timely response to the global urgency for sustainable food systems, tailored to the specific challenges of Senegal – a country facing food insecurity and urgent environmental concerns. The project aligns with international directives such as the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, emphasizing zero hunger, health, gender equality, decent work and economic growth, reduced inequalities, climate action, and life on land. The ARTS project is a proactive approach towards the transition to sustainable and equitable food sys-tems that prioritize human wellbeing and environmental stewardship. Moreover, it offers fresh insights into Senegal’s food system, drawing from an innovative mix of land system sciences, socio-anthropology, and feminist ecology. Beyond contributing to knowledge, the project also bridges the divide between science, policy, and society through innovative en-gagement platforms that leverage arts and culture. Through these efforts, ARTS facilitates a comprehensive understanding and inclusive dialogue that stimulates transformative action towards sustainable agroecology in Senegal.