Above: Daro Mbodj, left, and Ndeye Sarr Diop both buy rice
for resale. Like some others in Senegal and other countries
in the region, Mrs. Diop, who also grows rice, fears losing
everything if the price of rice falls much below $20 for a
50-kilogram (110-pound) bag. “I can double my money,”
she said. “Or I can lose everything.” (Michael Kamber
for NYT)

NYT
By LYDIA POLGREEN
Published: January 25, 2009

RONKH, Senegal — Ndeye Sarr Diop hardly looks like a bit player on the global commodities market. Resplendent in a flowing brown and mauve bou bou and carrying a dainty purse, she gazed across the watery expanse of her rice fields. She had invested everything she had, and borrowed hundreds of dollars on top of that.

“I hope rice will make me rich,” she said, running a hand over the green stalks and fingering the sheathed grains.

Hoping to take advantage of high global food prices that brought many poor nations to the brink of chaos last year, farmers across West Africa are reaping what experts say is one of the best harvests in recent memory.

But after investing and borrowing heavily to expand their production, these farmers also run the risk of being wiped out as global food prices plummet. Read more.