New Lines Magazine • 15th September 2026

In Dubai, Trade Continues on the Front Lines of the Iran War

Almost seven months into a war the UAE didn't ask for, food is still flowing from Iran’s farms to the restaurants of Dubai — but for how much longer?

Bloomberg.com • 24th August 2026

Moldy Peanuts Can Be Deadly. The Solution Is More Mold

A fungus turns the crop into a carcinogenic time bomb. This Senegalese scientist says he can fix that.

BBC • 5th August 2026

BBC Radio 4 - The Food Programme, Inside the Chocolate Crisis

Soaring cacao prices broke all records and then they crashed. Dan Saladino and Jack Thompson explore the fallout, the impact on farmers, their communities, industry players and chocolate lovers.

Guild of Food Writers • 3rd June 2026

The Guild of Food Writers Awards 2026

Jack Thompson and Dan Saladino won the 2026 Guild of Food Writers Award for best food podcast or broadcast for their BBC Food Programme, Why is Africa Feeding Us?

AP News • 31st May 2026

Iran war forces farmers to seek fertilizer alternatives from cow dung to compost

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — When Senegalese farmer Abou Sow first watched U.S. missiles strike Iran on social media, he had a sinking feeling it would soon affect agriculture in the West African nation. Since the war began on Feb. 28, fertilizer prices have risen by 40%.

18th April 2026

From potatoes to padel: Farmers convert barns into courts

As the sport soars in popularity and inner-city padel courts become harder to build and book, farmers struggling to make ends meet are stepping up.

New Lines Magazine • 17th March 2026

The Limits of the UAE's Push for Food Security

Deep in the heart of the Sahara Desert, an industrial complex of greenhouses rises above the dunes. Running underneath the sand is a 35-mile-long pipeline transporting water to the property in this remote part of Mauritania.The owners? A firm from the United Arab Emirates. The goal? Farming blueberries.

AP News • 4th March 2026

Some West African farmers turn to TikTok as part of agriculture's changing image

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — When Senegalese farmer Pape Fall first downloaded TikTok, it was to watch football and funny videos. In the last two years, however, he’s experimented with it to promote his produce and now sells most of it via the platform.

BBC • 14th November 2025

BBC Radio 4 - The Food Programme, Why Is Africa Feeding Us?

Dan Saladino and reporter Jack Thompson investigate the UK's growing dependence on farms in northern Senegal for food such as sweetcorn, radishes and beans. Is this a good thing?

The Guardian • 11th November 2025

Why ‘mob grazing’ may help protect drought-hit Senegal’s vast grasslands

A regenerative scheme has shown early promise, with herders hopeful it can restore degraded pastures.

The Sophie Coe Prize • 8th August 2025

The Sophie Coe Prize

The winner of this year’s Sophie Coe Prize was announced at the Oxford Symposium on Food & Cookery on Saturday 12th July. Jack Thompson was awarded the £1,500 Prize for his article ‘Separating Weetabix from the Chaff’, which highlights the difficulties faced by farmers who are increasingly obliged to deal with international corporations in a style described by the judges as “very well written, lively, informative and accessible.”

AP News • 13th May 2025

Foreign overfishing in Senegal fuels migration to Spain, a report finds

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Overfishing by foreign vessels is decimating fish stocks in the West African country of Senegal, which is in turn fueling migration to Spain.

AP News • 1st April 2025

'I bought their dream': How a US company's huge land deal in Senegal went bust

In interviews with company officials and residents, The Associated Press explored one of the growing number of foreign investment projects targeting Africa, home to about 60% of the world’s remaining uncultivated arable land.

The Sunday Times • 30th March 2025

Rural Romania’s in turmoil — and foreign farmers get the blame

A British expat is one of many in physical and financial peril because of a rising tide of nationalism and a scramble for land and water in the age of climate change.

AP News • 27th December 2024

'We fall and we rise': Some amputees in Sierra Leone turn to farming to combat discrimination

The Farming on Crutches initiative offers a rare refuge for Sierra Leone's some 28,000 amputees from its brutal civil war. It aims to restore amputees’ confidence and independence by teaching them skills to start a farm business.

AP News • 21st November 2024

Sierra Leone loves rice and wants to free itself from imports. But how to do it?

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — Rice borders on the sacred in Sierra Leone. Unless a meal includes rice, people say, you haven’t eaten at all.

The New Humanitarian • 17th October 2024

A fool’s mission: Trying to track the impact of EU migration funding in Senegal

Last year, I set out to investigate the on-the-ground impact of the tens of millions of euros the EU has spent trying to address the root causes of migration in Senegal.

10th October 2024

Fuel to Fork

Fossil fuels are the lifeblood of our food system. This brand new podcast series exposes their hidden role in the food we eat– revealing how food accounts for 15% of global fossil fuel use. If we want to tackle climate change, we can't leave food off the plate.

SEJ • 23rd September 2024

Kevin Carmody Award for Outstanding Investigative Reporting, Large: SEJ 23rd Annual Awards for Reporting on the Environment

Through comprehensive on-the-ground reporting in West Africa and painstaking gathering and assessment of shipping and other supply-chain data, The Financial Times showed how some half a million metric tons of fish from the waters off Mauritania were turned into fish meal used in Norwegian salmon farms. This FT investigation used data visualization, motion graphics and photography to great effect, literally connecting the dots between crisis-level food shortages in West Africa — driven by the near-collapse of the region's fish stocks that Norway's salmon farming operations had caused — and the salmon marketed on UK supermarket shelves."

Financial Times • 15th August 2024

The European boats fishing under a veil of secrecy

EU vessels are registering with African fleets and exploiting local fishing laws

Hakai Magazine • 17th July 2024

The Social Cost of Carbon Credits | Hakai Magazine

Multinational companies funded a US $4.4-million carbon offset project. Senegalese locals did much of the work—and saw almost none of the money.

Rest of World • 3rd July 2024

WhatsApp voice notes are revolutionizing farming in Senegal

For farmers in Senegal who struggle to read or write, sending voice notes has unlocked a new world of collaboration across the industry.

The Christian Science Monitor • 4th June 2024

They had never seen the ocean. Then climate change made them fishermen.

Climate change is expected to uproot more than a billion people by 2050, forcing many to radically change their ways of life. The experience of Mauritania’s herders-turned-fishermen offers a window into what this transition could be like.

Vittles • 27th May 2024

Separating the Weetabix from the Chaff

Jack Thompson traces the supply chain of his family farm's wheat to Weetabix, the country’s favourite cereal, taking in colonialism, seed monopoly, and the future of British farming.