DAKAR – The Senegalese government has eased restrictions on peanut marketing, allowing exporters to resume their activities. This decision concerns a significant source of foreign currency for the agricultural sector, whose 2024/2025 marketing campaign began last December.
Authorization to export peanuts is granted from March 25 to June 15, 2025, despite the ban in effect since October 2024. The announcement was made in a circular from the Ministry of Agriculture, dated March 24.
This reopening of the international market to exporters is justified by the satisfactory progress of peanut collection by oil mills, at the halfway point of the marketing campaign. The initial ban aimed to secure supplies for local industries.
According to statements reported by the Senegalese Press Agency (APS) on March 25, Babacar Fall, president of the National Oilseed Marketing Company (Sonacos), the country’s main oil producer, indicated that his company had already collected 180,000 tons of peanuts nationwide, representing 60% of its 300,000-ton target.
The government aims to strike a balance between supplying local oil mills and enabling exports, as the price per kilogram of peanuts is generally higher for exports than on the local market. This price difference explains the partial lifting of the export ban.
Although peanut export forecasts are not yet available, export volumes for this key sector of Senegalese agriculture may decrease this year. In 2024, when there were no restrictions, Senegal exported 121,798 tons of peanuts, generating 65.3 billion CFA francs ($107 million), according to data from the National Agency of Statistics and Demography (Ansd).
