Louga Region
Louga's semi-arid Groundnut Basin edge combines peanut cultivation with pastoral traditions, the rainfall constraints driving emigration toward Dakar and abroad.
Louga extends across Senegal's northern semi-arid zone where peanut cultivation reaches its ecological limits—the Groundnut Basin's edge where rainfall constraints determine what agriculture can achieve. The region's inclusion among peanut-producing areas spanning Thiès, Louga, Diourbel, Fatick, and Kaolack reflects historical expansion that climate change increasingly challenges.
Livestock raising complements crop agriculture in a region where pastoral traditions predate groundnut's commercial introduction. The agro-pastoral economy creates resilience that mono-crop dependence lacks, though drought vulnerability affects both sectors simultaneously when rainfall fails.
Emigration from Louga to Dakar and international destinations represents the human capital export that rural poverty produces. Whether agricultural intensification and value-addition can create livelihoods that retain population—or whether Louga continues functioning as labor reservoir for opportunities elsewhere—tests whether Vision 2050's decentralization reaches the agricultural periphery.