On 1 and 2 October 2026, farmers from Thiafoura and Sorohassap, joined by women market gardeners from Popenguine and Ngaparou, trained in planning and managing the economics of a farm, at Tolou Keur, the community farming space of the Living Lab.
Can an agroecological farm make a living for the people who work it? Agroecology is often defended for what it does for soils and health. Whether it lasts, though, depends on a more down-to-earth question: what does a growing season cost, and what does it bring in? Farm advisory work often leaves these sums aside. We wanted to put them at the centre.
Planning, costing, anticipating
Over two days, participants worked on planning farm activities around crop calendars. They also worked on controlling production costs, drawing up budgets and making farms profitable. The exercises were done in small groups, on real cases: the nursery, preparing the plots, inputs. Each group then presented its work to everyone.
“We were able to do the sums before producing,” says Marième Faye, a participant. Everyone received seeds to put the training into practice this season.
Knowing your costs to set fair prices
At the Thiafoura Living Lab, these questions are also collective. With TERAL, we are building community-supported agriculture: families, restaurants, hotels and schools commit to buying what the village grows. The future territorial charter provides for farmers, women processors, customers and elected officials to set prices together. To negotiate a fair price, you first need to know what what you sell really costs. Whether the model pays its way is still an open question. We are working on it with the farmers themselves, and each training teaches us something about what to do next.
Passing it on
For Sokhna Faye, a farmer, participants took lessons from these two days that they want to share, first of all with young people, “our successors of tomorrow”.
The Thiafoura Living Lab is testing, with its residents, a food system whose income stays in the village. Discover the Living Lab
