The Senegal River Valley

Late in April 1975, in a village on the left bank of the Senegal River, a meeting took place. It was held in the courtyard of a private dwelling-house, not in the village forum; for it involved, not the village as a whole, but the members of the village association for collective agriculture, which had been in existence for just over a year. They numbered about 270 at the time: 200 men and 70 women, almost half the active population then present in the village, evenly distributed throughout its 70-odd households. Many of them were at the meeting. Their designated spokesmen were seated on mats at the front of the gathering: six chefs d’équipe, heads of work groups, and the association’s chairman, vice-chairman and treasurer. Near them sat observers from neighbouring villages where similar associations had been formed. Seated at a table, facing the assembled people, were the visitors who had caused the meeting to be held. One was a familiar figure, a French agricultural technician who had been in the area for a year. The others were not. One was the organiser of an agricultural improvement scheme about 200 miles downstream; the other was a representative of the Société d’Aménagement et d’Exploitation des Terres du Delta du Fleuve Sénégal (SAED), which had shortly before been placed in charge of agricultural development on the river. These two men were Senegalese, but from nearer the coast; they spoke in French, which was then translated into Soninke, the language locally spoken. The three men, accompanied by assistants who took no active part in the meeting, had arrived in the village together.