Announcement of One Million Dollars for Irrigation Engineering in Senegal on May 1, 1975

• INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION 1818 H STREET. N.W., WASHINGTON D. C. 20433 TELEPHONE: EXECUTIVE 3-6360 , I IDA News Release No. 75/19 May 1, 1975 $1.0 MILLION FOR IRRIGATION ENGINEERING IN SENEGAL The International Development Association (IDA) has approved a credit of $1.0 million to help finance an irrigation engineering project in Senegal. The engineering project is designed to reformulate within the framework of Senegal River Basin regional development an irrigation project in the Senegal River Delta, for which IDA approved a credit of $4.5 million in 1973. The refo~ulated project includes a change from developing a single-crop controlled flooding system to developing fully controlled irrigation with double- cropping. The scheme w~ll consist of irrigation and drainage networks to serve about 5,000 hectares in the Debi-Lampsar area. The project will use water during the dry season from a proposed dam at Diama, • Senegal, which is expected to be operational by 1980. The Diama Dam will be part of the regional development progrmu of the Organization for the Development of the Senegal River Basin (O~IVS) composed of Mali, Mauritania and Senegal. Development of Debi-Lampsar is expected to substantially raise the incomes of about 2,000 families embracing some 20,000 persons. The people of the Senegal Delta are among the lowest income segments in the country. The 5,000 hectares of land to be developed in the Debi-Lampsar area will produce by 1982 some 15,000 tons of paddy rice, 13,000 tons of wheat and o·ther cereals, 30,000 tons of tomatoes, and 7,000 tons of onions. The project will help to reduce imports of gra:in and eliminate imports of tomato paste. The engineering project will be carried out by.Soci~t~ d'Amenagement et d'Exploitation des Terres du Delta, an autonomous agency responsible to the Ministry of Rural Development. It is to be completed in 21 months at a total cost of $1.25 million. The IDA credit of $1.0 million will finance the project's foreign exchange cost~. The IDA credit is being extended to the Republic of Senegal for a term of 10 years, including two years of grace. It is interest free, but carries a • service charge of 3/4 of 1% a year to cover IDA's administrative costs. The credit will be refinanced under any later loan or credit that the Bank or IDA might make for the irrigation construction project itself. Note: Money figures are expressed in US dollar equivalents.