Key data for Senegal

NCI23rd HRCI31st HANCI29th
HANCI compares 45 countries for their performance on 22 indicators of political commitment to reduce hunger and undernutrition. All the countries compared in the index have high rates of hunger and undernutrition. The comparative approach of the index means that country scores are calculated in relation to the political commitment of the other countries in the index.
Existing rates of: Stunting: 18.8% Wasting: 8.1% Proportion of population underweight: 8.1% Source: Government of Senegal (SMART,2019)

Strong Performance

  • Spending on agriculture (10.7% of public spending in 2018) meets government commitments set out in the African Union’s Maputo Declaration (10% of public spending).
  • Senegal instituted a separate budget line for nutrition, enabling transparency and accountability for spending.
  • The National Nutrition Policy/Strategy identifies time bound nutrition targets and a multisectoral and multistakeholder policy coordination mechanism has been set up.
  • Policymakers in Senegal benefit from regular nutrition surveys that are statistically representative at national level. The last survey was published in 2018.
  • The Government of Senegal promotes complementary feeding practices.
  • In Senegal 97.1% of women aged 15-49 were visited at least once during pregnancy by skilled health personnel in 2017.

Areas for improvement

  • Senegal’s spending in its health sector (3.9% of public spending in 2017) does not fully meet (15%) commitments set out in the Abuja Declaration.
  • The Government of Senegal has not ensured tenure security for rural populations. Land titling is weak and land markets do not function well.
  • Extension services are the preserve of government and poor farmers have no say in setting policy priorities. The agricultural research and extension system is not properly reaching out to poor farmers. There is no policy promoting gender equity in access to extension services.
  • In Senegal, the law does not give women economic rights equal to men. Men and women have equal legal access to agricultural land, but this is not effectively enforced and discriminatory practices against women continue, increasing their vulnerability to hunger and undernutrition.
  • Relative to other HANCI countries, Senegal’s medium/long term national development policy (Plan Sénégal Émergent) places weak importance to nutrition.
  • The Government of Senegal has achieved two high doses of vitamin A supplementation for only 57% of children in 2018.
  • Weak access to improved sanitation facilities (56% in 2018) obstructs better hunger and nutrition outcomes.
  • In Senegal, constitutional protection of the right to social security is weak.

Hunger Reduction Commitment Index (HRCI)

Public Spending Score Year HRCI rank of 45
Public spending on agriculture as share of total public spending
?
10.7%20185th
Public spending on health as share of total public spending
?
3.9%201736th
Policies Score Year HRCI rank of 45
Access to land (security of tenure)
?
Weak201941st
Access to agricultural research and extension services
?
Weak201939th
Civil registration system — coverage of live births
?
77.4%201716th
Functioning of social protection systems
?
Moderate2018Joint 6th
Laws Score Year HRCI rank of 45
Level of constitutional protection of the right to food
?
Moderate2016Joint 10th
Equality of women’s access to agricultural land
?
In Law, not in Practice2019Joint 3rd
Equality of women’s economic rights
?
Not in Law2019Joint 16th
Constitutional right to social security
?
No2009Joint 33rd

Nutrition Commitment Index (NCI)

Public Spending Score Year NCI rank of 45
Separate budget for nutrition
?
Yes2019Joint 1st
Policies Score Year NCI rank of 45
Vitamin A supplementation coverage for children
?
57%201829th
Government promotes complementary feeding
?
Yes2014Joint 1st
Population with access to an improved water source
?
81%201822nd
Population with access to improved sanitation
?
56%201815th
Health care visits for pregnant women
?
97.1%2017Joint 12th
Nutrition features in national development policy
?
Weak2014-201832nd
National Nutrition Policy/Strategy
?
Yes2019Joint 1st
Multisector and multistakeholder policy coordination
?
Yes2019Joint 1st
Time bound nutrition targets
?
Yes2019Joint 1st
National nutrition survey in last 3 years
?
Yes2018Joint 1st
Laws Score Year NCI rank of 45
Enshrine ICBMS in domestic law
?
Few Aspects Enshrined2019Joint 34th