{"id":893,"date":"2013-03-24T10:40:58","date_gmt":"2013-03-24T10:40:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/disnaija.com\/nigeria-news\/china-makes-peanuts-new-gold-in-senegal\/"},"modified":"2013-03-24T10:43:59","modified_gmt":"2013-03-24T10:43:59","slug":"china-makes-peanuts-new-gold-in-senegal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disnaija.com\/china-makes-peanuts-new-gold-in-senegal\/","title":{"rendered":"China makes peanuts \u2018new gold\u2019 in Senegal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<p>DINGUIRAYE, Senegal(AFP) \u2013 High walls protect a Chinese peanut warehouse in central Senegal, where the product is becoming the new \u201cgold\u201d for farmers bypassing local traders to sell to Asia at inflated prices.<\/p>\n<p>Beneath an asphalt road leading into the village of Dinguiraye in the west African nation\u2019s \u201cpeanut basin\u201d, the shelling factory is an imposing site on the savannah of dry grass and stunted trees.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe prefer to sell our peanuts to the Chinese for between 250 and 260 francs (about 0.30 euros, 0.40 dollars) a kilo. Prices sometimes even reach 300 francs in the weekly markets,\u201d said farmer Oumar Thiam.<\/p>\n<p>This is significantly better than the 190-franc maximum fixed by the state, he pointed out.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is the first time that peanut prices have reached this level and it is thanks to the Chinese,\u201d he told AFP.<\/p>\n<p>In the nearby village of Sanguel women sort peanuts in the presence of supervisors, some of them Chinese.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFilming, photography and talking to the workers is strictly prohibited,\u201d a Senegalese foreman advised firmly.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" id=\"attachment_158240\" style=\"width: 269px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-158240\" alt=\"peanuts: new gold in Senegal\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.pmnewsnigeria.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/peanuts.jpg\" width=\"259\" height=\"194\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">peanuts: new gold in Senegal<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cI buy the farmers\u2019 peanuts and I shell them before selling them to China, Russia, the Philippines and Malaysia,\u201d said Dong Yang, a local Chinese boss who was one of the few foreign exporters willing to talk about his business.<\/p>\n<p>Peanuts, introduced by French colonists, continue to play an important role in the economy as the main cash crop in Senegal, providing employment for 60 percent of the population.<\/p>\n<p>They are transformed into oil, powder or paste for use in many recipes, including \u201cthieboudienne\u201d (rice with fish), a national dish, while by-products include animal feed from seed residue and fuel from the shells.<\/p>\n<p>Peanut production has declined in recent years however, mainly owing to a lack of rainfall and a drop in prices.<\/p>\n<p>Peanuts have been available for export since sector regulations were eased nearly three years ago but producers are concerned that exports could now soar given increased interest from buyers in China.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFarmers now lay down the law because there are many foreign buyers,\u201d trader Habib Thiam said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe peanut is becoming the gold of the peasant farmer, having once been the gold of the millers\u201d who paid growers poorly and made substantial profits when they sold their transformed peanut products.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe rush into the Senegalese market is (now) discriminating against millers who are finding it increasingly hard to get hold of peanuts from farmers,\u201d Diallo said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a catastrophic year for our factories, which will only work for one month out of 12 because of this unhealthy and unfair foreign competition,\u201d said Bouba Aw, head of a peanut millers\u2019 trade union.<\/p>\n<p>He called for laws \u201cto supply as a priority local mills which employ about 5,000 people including 2,000 in permanent jobs\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, he said that the opening up of the industry would lead to \u201cproblems with the availability of peanut seeds\u201d owing to increased shipments abroad.<\/p>\n<p>But local producer El Hadji Ndiaye said: \u201cSenegalese farmers have grown peanuts since the 19th Century. They have always managed to get seeds and will always keep seeds in reserve.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"feedflare\"><img alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/PmNewsNigeria?d=yIl2AUoC8zA\" border=\"0\" \/> <img alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/PmNewsNigeria?d=qj6IDK7rITs\" border=\"0\" \/> <img alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/PmNewsNigeria?i=m-zWW1wLnH4:AXTiYMektBM:F7zBnMyn0Lo\" border=\"0\" \/> <img alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/PmNewsNigeria?i=m-zWW1wLnH4:AXTiYMektBM:-BTjWOF_DHI\" border=\"0\" \/><\/div>\n<p>\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<br \/>\nPosted in Nigeria News.<\/p>\n<p>Not an original publication of DisNaija.Com network.<br \/>\nTo visit the source, click here<\/p>\n<p><b>DisNaija.Com<\/b> publishes regular posts on Nigeria News, Nigerian Newspapers, Online Nigeria Gist.<\/p>\n<p>Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"twitter-follow-button\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Dis_Naija\" data-show-count=\"false\" data-size=\"large\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Follow @Dis_Naija<\/a><br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\n!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,\"script\",\"twitter-wjs\");\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;<br \/>\nYour Opinion Counts. Be sure To Leave A Comment, If You Have Any.<\/p>\n<p>Your Support Is Appreciated. Please <b>Like, Share<\/b> or <b>Tweet<\/b>.<br \/>\n<img alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/disnaija.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/thank-you.gif\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DINGUIRAYE, Senegal(AFP) \u2013 High walls protect a Chinese peanut warehouse in central Senegal, where the product is becoming the new \u201cgold\u201d for farmers bypassing local traders to sell to Asia at inflated prices. Beneath an asphalt road leading into the village of Dinguiraye in the west African nation\u2019s \u201cpeanut basin\u201d, the shelling factory is an [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[58],"tags":[568,565,569,566,567,570],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/disnaija.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/893"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/disnaija.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/disnaija.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disnaija.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disnaija.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/disnaija.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/893\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/disnaija.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disnaija.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disnaija.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}