In Senegal wheat cannot grow, but people still eat 8 million baguettes a day. Due to Putin's war in Ukraine, the global grain price has also risen sharply.
A baguette made from (also much healthier) fonio, a climate-resistant grain that has been grown for thousands of years in the dry east of Senegal, therefore offers a solution.
For my first report from Dakar, I visited Réseau MBURU – Mburu means 'bread' in Wolof and Bambara – where Isseu Diop Sakho tries to get the Dakarois to eat baked goods made from forgotten grains.
The story, about the ripple effects of the massive Russian invasion of Ukraine and the decolonization of taste buds, was featured last Saturday with photos by Guy Peterson in the large Ukraine special of the Volkskrant.