Senegal

Transatlantic Slavery and the Shift to Peanuts Peanut agriculture, transatlantic slavery, and the ivory trade are interconnected through the shift from human trafficking to "legitimate commerce" in 19th-century West Africa. ​1. Transatlantic Slavery and the Shift to Peanuts ​When European powers—particularly France and Britain—banned the transatlantic slave trade in the early to mid-19th century, European merchants transitioned to trading West African commodities. In France, industrialization created an enormous demand for vegetable oils to produce soaps (such as  Savon de Marseille ), cosmetics, and machine lubricants. ​Peanuts ( Arachis hypogaea ) became the ideal cash crop to fulfill this demand. However, the rise of peanut farming did not end African slavery; instead, it transformed and prolonged domestic slavery within West Africa: ​ Domestic Slave Labor:  To clear large swathes of dry forests and harvest peanuts, local West African elites, rulers, and merchants heavily ...

  Iron in the Soil: The Senegambian Blacksmiths of Koran, Louisiana ​In the red clay and rich bottomlands of Bossier Parish, Louisiana, lies the unincorporated community of Koran. While modest today, Koran holds a history deeply tied to African American craftsmanship, West African metallurgical traditions, and the vital role played by enslaved and freed blacksmiths who kept rural Southern agriculture moving. ​1. The Senegambian Roots of American Ironwork ​During the 18th-century French colonial era in Louisiana, a large proportion of enslaved people forcibly brought to the Mississippi Valley came from the Senegambia region of West Africa—encompassing modern-day Senegal and The Gambia. ​In Senegambian societies, including the Wolof and Mande peoples, metalworkers ( numu ) held a respected and highly specialized position. For centuries before European contact, West African blacksmiths possessed sophisticated knowledge of: ​ Iron Smelting & Refining:  Extracting iron ore usin...

  The Seeds of Science:   How West African Knowledge Engineered Southern Agriculture The agricultural engine of the early American South was built on more than just forced manual labor—it relied fundamentally on the transfer of sophisticated agronomic, botanical, and engineering expertise brought by enslaved West Africans. ​When European colonizers established plantation systems across the Southern colonies and Sea Islands, they encountered unfamiliar climates, tropical marshlands, and crops they had no prior experience cultivating. Enslaved agriculturalists from specific West African regions provided the technical blueprint for establishing and expanding three of the South’s most lucrative cash crops: rice, indigo, and cotton. ​Rice ( Oryza glaberrima ) and Lowcountry Hydraulics ​The establishment of Carolina Gold rice as a multi-million-dollar export was only possible because European planters deliberately targeted and enslaved people from the "Grain Coast" or "Rice Co...

  Cotton, Faith and the Land: What I Found in Médina Gounass When I began looking into cotton production in Senegal, I thought I was going to learn about agriculture. I wanted to know where cotton was grown, which communities produced it, what role cotton played in the rural economy, and whether there was an organic cotton movement that might connect with the sustainable agriculture work I have been interested in for many years. But the more I learned, the more I realized that cotton in Senegal is not simply a story about a crop. It is also a story about people, land, faith, labor, community and memory. One of the places that brought all of these things together for me was Médina Gounass, in the Kolda region of southeastern Senegal. A Fulbe community and the land Médina Gounass was founded in 1936 by Mamadou Seydou Ba, a religious leader associated with the Umarian branch of the Tijaniyya Sufi tradition. The community was largely made up of Fulbe, or Fulani, people, many of whom sp...

    Echoes of the Giant: How the Elephant Shaped Africa’s Nature, History, and Heritage ​Across the African continent, the elephant has always been far more than a wild animal roaming the wilderness. From the high-altitude canopy of Kenya’s Mau Forest to the historic trade routes of West Africa, this majestic creature stands as a keystone species, a silent witness to historical trauma, and a sacred cultural icon. Examining the African elephant reveals a powerful story where biology, history, and indigenous wisdom intersect. ​ The Biological Blueprint and Rapid Evolution ​In recent decades, intense human pressure has forced elephants to adapt at an astonishing speed. In areas affected by heavy poaching, such as Gorongosa National Park, the survival rate of tuskless elephants rose dramatically. Because poachers targeted animals with valuable ivory, tuskless females were left to survive and reproduce, passing on their genes at a much higher rate. ​This transformation is driven by...

  Going to the Source: African Environmental Knowledge, Climate Management and Free Knowledge A 2026 Senegal Environmental Justice Documentation Project Project Overview I am an environmental researcher, community outreach volunteer, writer, photographer, filmmaker, and longtime volunteer contributor to free public knowledge. For more than two decades, I have worked at the intersection of environmental issues, community development, agriculture, ecological knowledge, communications, and public education. My approach is simple: I go to the source. Rather than relying solely on information available online, I travel to communities and organizations, meet people doing environmental work, observe their projects, document what I learn, and then find appropriate ways to share that knowledge with a wider public. I am seeking funding to continue this work in Senegal in December 2026, with the First African Environmental Justice Conference in Dakar as the central gathering for the project. ...