Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Talked agricultural exports this morning at length with Professor Abdoulaya Sanokho this morning. Among the products discussed were the massive mangos grown here, baobab powder—the stuff of the delicious baobab drink I had earlier in Mbacke—and tamarind. I suggested strongly to the professor that he work to make contacts with American organic certification companies to certify Senegalese crops for export…
In the afternoon, I met with the representative of the U.S. Department of Commerce here, Steven Morrison, and his staff people, Youhanidou Wane Ba and Alosa Diop, commercial specialists. Over my lunch of grilled cheese sandwich and French fries in the U.S. embassy cafeteria, they listened patiently to my accounts of exploits in Dakar, Touba and lands beyond uncharted, while I benefited greatly from their insights into the scene here and in particular waste management. Alosa told me of an interesting Peace Corps project south of Dakar which pulls out the wastestream organics and composts them at a yard next to the centralized dump that they use. The fact that the dump is centralized may seem insignificant, but it represents a big step away from everybody dumping willy nilly at the edge of town. Tomorrow is my last full day here before returning home (sorely missed) on an early Friday a.m. flight. I will check with the Peace Corps project when I get home.
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