Focusing on Senegal, this paper argues that agricultural development can succeed only if rural populations participate directly and effectively in its implementation. After placing agriculture at the center of development strategy in the Third World, the author reviews Senegal’s post-independence experience in administrative reform, rural institutions, training, and support structures. The article stresses the need for fair prices, adequate public investment, better-trained rural cadres, stronger agricultural services, and policies that connect growth with social justice. It presents popular participation not as a slogan, but as a necessary condition for sustainable agricultural transformation.
Moussa Ndoye (2026) studied this question.