A Dutch friend sent me an article laughing. It said that Senegal was once again the world’s number one destination for Dutch onions. He asked me, with a mix of curiosity and judgment: “Why you guys buying so much onions?” I answered that we consume a lot of onions, that local production is very concentrated in time, and that we struggle to store what we produce. That was true, but very incomplete. His question reveals a deeper paradox: how can a country investing heavily in s

This photo was taken seven years ago in a farmers’ market in the Sine Saloum region of Senegal.Every bag in that scene carries a season of hard work, yet no one knows the price they’ll get because the market decides it in real time. It’s a vivid illustration of how unpredictability shapes behaviour — and how hard it is to build trust in such an environment. In markets like these, price is not determined by cost or effort, but by the dynamics of the day.A buyer’s mood, a delay

This reflection explores a recurring pattern observed across multiple agricultural value chains in West Africa: the illusion of control created by short-term procurement models. Drawing from Afrikamart’s field experience, it examines how distrust shapes behaviours, and why rebuilding confidence may be the quiet foundation of resilience.