Community-Led Monitoring and Evaluation of Social Enterprise in Senegal

Yarum Jen is a pilot aquaculture project in the Gandiol region of Senegal. Wolof for “raising fish”, Yarum Jen is a small fish farm specializing in the growth and harvesting of a local marine Tilapia species (Sarotherodon). The farm is located in the village of Gniling Mbao which lies along the Senegal River, separated from the Atlantic Ocean by a narrow peninsula called the Langue de Barbarie. The goal of Yarum Jen is to provide a sustainable source of income for the community and to mitigate threats to food security in Gniling Mbao and in neighboring villages. In addition, it hopes to empower local residents who have taken ownership of the daily management of the enterprise, including managing the funds generated by the business.


It is critical to provide the local owners of Yarum Jen with a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework to track the progress of the enterprise. The framework should also ensure that any problems that may hinder the long‐term growth and development of the project are identified and discussed, and that members of Yarum Jen are aware of innovations that may contribute to the long‐term success of the enterprise. The final report written by the SIPA team outlines the development of an M&E framework in collaboration with the members of Yarum Jen. The process was carried out in three phases, and included extensive field and desk research to understand the context of Gniling Mbao; the development of a log frame for Yarum Jen that informed preliminary indicators and research questions; and the identification of final indicators and a format for the M&E framework through workshops and interviews with local stakeholders.