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Open Foundation West Africa: Opening the Door to African Knowledge

  Open Foundation West Africa: Opening the Door to African Knowledge I recently came across Open Foundation West Africa (OFWA), and I became curious about what the organization actually does. The more I learned, the more familiar some of its work felt. It touches many of the same questions that have been occupying my mind for years: Who creates knowledge? Who gets represented? Who preserves African history and culture? And how can communities make their own knowledge available to the world? Open Foundation West Africa is based in Ghana and works in the field of open knowledge, education, digital skills, culture and technology. It began its work in 2016 and has developed projects connected with Wikimedia, Creative Commons, open education and digital preservation. Open Foundation West Africa What does “open” mean? When I hear the word open, I think about access. Can a student find the information? Can a teacher use it? Can a researcher build upon it? Can a community tell its own stor...
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The Wikimedia Pan-African Hub: Connecting African Wikimedians Across the Continent

  The Pan-African Hub is relatively new and its contact information has changed as the organization has developed. As of September 2026, the Wikimedia Pan-African Hub / Sub-Saharan Africa Hub (SSA Hub) is in its pilot phase and has an interim steering structure.  � The Wikimedia Pan-African Hub: Connecting African Wikimedians Across the Continent Building an African network for African knowledge For many years, Wikimedia communities across Africa have been working in different countries, languages, and regions to expand the presence of African knowledge on Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects. Now there is an effort to bring many of these communities into a stronger continental network: the Wikimedia Pan-African Hub, also known as the Sub-Saharan Africa Hub (SSA Hub). The Pan-African Hub is designed to strengthen collaboration, leadership, capacity building, and knowledge equity among Wikimedia affiliates and communities across Sub-Saharan Africa. The Hub is currently operat...
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Seeds of Change: A History of Peanut Farming and the Mouride Brotherhood in Senegal

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    Seeds of Change: A History of Peanut Farming and the Mouride Brotherhood in Senegal ​ Introduction ​The history of peanut ( arachide ) farming in Senegal is a compelling story of how a foreign crop introduced via transatlantic trade grew to dominate an entire nation’s political economy, social structure, and natural landscape. Over nearly two centuries, groundnut cultivation transformed Senegal from a patchwork of local agrarian kingdoms into the primary engine of French colonial agriculture in West Africa. At the central intersection of this agrarian revolution was the Mouride Brotherhood ( La Mouridiyya ), a Sufi order whose spiritual philosophy and organizational structure transformed agricultural labor into a national development driver. ​1. Early Origins & Introduction (16th–18th Century) ​Native to South America, peanuts were introduced to the coastal regions of West Africa by Portuguese traders in the 1500s. For the first three centuries following its arrival, t...
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Sacred Soil: How Sufi Brotherhoods and the Peanut Trade Reshaped Senegal

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    Sacred Soil: How Sufi Brotherhoods and the Peanut Trade Reshaped Senegal ​In the second half of the 19th century, two powerful forces collided to reshape the social, spiritual, and physical landscape of Senegal: the rise of a global market for groundnuts ( Arachis hypogaea ) and the emergence of Sufi brotherhoods—most notably the  Mouride order  ( Muridiyya ), founded in 1883 by Cheikh Amadou Bamba, alongside the  Tijaniyyah  order. ​When French colonial expansion dismantled traditional Wolof kingdoms, rural communities faced deep political and economic disruption. In response, Sufi leaders ( marabouts ) reorganized society around agricultural communes, turning peanut farming into a vehicle for social cohesion, anti-colonial resilience, and spiritual devotion. ​The Colonial Pivot: From Gum Arabic to Cash Crops ​Prior to the 1840s, the mercantile center of Saint-Louis—positioned at the mouth of the Senegal River as the administrative capital of French We...
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Groundnuts, Faith, and Renewal: The Agricultural and Social Evolution of Senegal

    Groundnuts, Faith, and Renewal: The Agricultural and Social Evolution of Senegal ​The story of the peanut ( Arachis hypogaea ) in Senegal is far more than a chapter in agricultural history. It is a sweeping narrative of global trade, spiritual devotion, environmental challenge, and structural modernization. Over four centuries, what began as a modest introduced garden crop grew into a monoculture engine that reshaped West Africa’s political economy, fueled powerful religious brotherhoods, altered regional ecosystems, and eventually sparked modern agricultural diversification. ​ 1. Early Arrival and the Industrial Cash-Crop Boom ​Native to South America, the peanut was brought to West African coastal ports by Portuguese traders in the 16th century. For nearly three hundred years, local farmers cultivated groundnuts on a small scale alongside traditional food staples like pearl millet, sorghum, and cowpeas, using the crop primarily for household consumption and kitchen garde...
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Revitalizing the Sahel: Reclaiming Soils Exhausted by the Legacy of Peanut Monoculture

  Revitalizing the Sahel: Reclaiming Soils Exhausted by the Legacy of Peanut Monoculture ​Decades of intensive peanut ( Arachis hypogaea ) monoculture have left an indelible mark on the landscapes of the Sahel. Promoted heavily during French colonial rule and maintained post-independence as a primary cash crop, groundnut farming transformed agrarian economies across West Africa. However, the physical reality of harvesting peanuts—which requires uprooting the entire plant—leaves fragile, sandy soils stripped of protective cover and completely exposed to wind and rain. Combined with shortened fallow periods, this practice systematically depleted organic matter, nitrogen, and phosphorus, triggering widespread soil compaction, acidification, and severe erosion. ​Today, communities across Senegal and the wider Sahel are fighting back, pairing traditional ecological wisdom with targeted agroecological innovations to repair degraded soils and rebuild agricultural resilience. ​1. Geographi...
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The Sahel's Peanut Legacy: Colonial Extraction, Soil Depletion, and Agroecological Recovery

    The Sahel's Peanut Legacy: Colonial Extraction, Soil Depletion, and Agroecological Recovery ​Decades of intensive groundnut ( Arachis hypogaea ) monoculture have left an indelible mark on the landscape of the Sahel. Promoted heavily during French colonial rule and maintained post-independence as a primary export crop, groundnut farming transformed West African agrarian economies. However, the physical mechanics of harvesting peanuts—which requires uprooting the entire plant—leaves fragile, sandy soils stripped of protective cover and directly exposed to wind and rain. Combined with shortened fallow periods, this practice systematically depleted soil organic matter, nitrogen, and phosphorus, triggering severe soil compaction, acidification, and erosion. ​ 1. Geographical Scope of Degradation ​Soil exhaustion from cash-crop peanut cultivation spans central and western Senegal as well as major agricultural belts across the broader Sahelian corridor. ​Senegal's Peanut Basin ( ...
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