Green Jobs Create Opportunities for Women, Youth in Saloum Delta

At the heart of the Saloum Delta's mangrove honey, oysters and ark clams are women and young people who are building their skills, organizing their activities and gradually gaining access to markets. In Dakar, the promotional event showcasing "Made in the Saloum Delta" products highlighted their know-how and created opportunities to engage with professional buyers.

Held on 10 October 2026, the event was organized as part of the project "Green Jobs for Women and Youth in the Saloum Delta", implemented by the International Labour Organization (ILO) with funding from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The project aims to develop value chains linked to the Delta's resources and to create or consolidate decent employment opportunities, including through skills development, green entrepreneurship, producer organization, access to markets and social protection.

From skills to economic opportunities

The results presented during the event illustrate the changes under way within communities: 530 women and young people were trained in modern oyster and ark clam farming, 407 in beekeeping techniques and 400 in green entrepreneurship. Twenty young people were also trained in beehives construction and now manufacture beehives locally.

At the same time, 15 cooperative societies were established in accordance with the OHADA Uniform Act relating to cooperative societies, giving producers, both women and recognized legal status and a greater capacity to enter into contracts. The project has also strengthened social protection: 3,471 people are covered by health insurance, and two agricultural insurance products have been developed for honey and shellfish. In total, 1,200 jobs have been created or supported, 70 per cent of them for women and 30 per cent for young people.

For Samira Daoud, Director of the ILO Decent Work Technical Support Team and Country Office for Dakar, the products showcased are above all about people: "First and foremost, these are the stories of women and young people from the Saloum Delta."

Bringing producers closer to markets

Exhibitions, tastings and B2B meetings enabled producers and processors to discuss quality, volumes, prices, packaging and supply arrangements directly with hotels, restaurants, distributors and other professional buyers.

The beekeepers and women processors who took part expressed said they were satisfied with the event and valued of the exchanges. For them, the meeting was an opportunity not only to showcase their know-how, but also to better understand buyers' expectations and identify new business opportunities.

These exchanges give concrete meaning to market access: they enable beneficiaries to position themselves not merely as project participants, but as economic actors offering products, know-how and supplying markets from the Saloum Delta.

This momentum is reinforced by progress in bringing products to markets. Fifty honey and shellfish products have obtained their Manufacturing and Marketing Authorization (FRA), and a "Saloum Delta" territorial label is being finalized. A marketing start-up has also been created to connect the 15 cooperatives with buyers, aggregate supply, support quality assurance and facilitate contract monitoring.

As the Director of the ILO Office emphasized: "Every contract signed with a Delta cooperative means a stable income for a family, and one more reason to preserve the mangrove."

Making women and young people economic actors

Chairing the ceremony, Maître Ousmane Diagne, Minister responsible for Livestock, stressed that the Delta experience shows how training, organization and stronger market linkages can help transform a largely informal activities into a structured value chain.

He particularly emphasized the central role of the beneficiaries: "This day is first and foremost yours!", noting that it provides an opportunity to showcase their know-how and the potential of their territories.

The Minister also expressed a broader ambition: "Our objective is to ensure that young people and women are not merely beneficiaries of public policies, but become economic actors capable of starting businesses, innovating and creating jobs."

The Minister also called for lessons to be drawn from the Delta experience and for scaling it up to be considered across Senegal's seven beekeeping regions to be considered

Products that open up new prospects

Beyond serving as a commercial showcase, the "Made in the Saloum Delta" event illustrates the link between decent work, economic empowerment, territorial development and environmental preservation.

"Decent jobs can be created while protecting the mangrove, not at its expense," reiterated Ms Samira Daoud, Director of the ILO Office in Dakar.

For the ILO and its partners, the challenge now is to consolidate these achievements so that the skills developed, the organizations created and the commercial relationships established to lead to lasting improvements in economic prospects for women, young people and their communities.