Food Practices in Senegalese Regions: Invisible Resources to Be Revalued for Sustainable Food Sovereignty

This article examines the importance of food practices in three Senegalese regions with contrasting agro-ecological profiles (Casamance, Ferlo, and Fouta Toro) in the development of food policies. It is based on empirical data from approximately one hundred interviews conducted with local populations. The issue raises questions about how local food practices, currently marginalized in public policy, can be used as resources for sustainable and equitable food sovereignty. The results reveal the richness of these regions, characterized by a diversity of ancestral dishes and the use of domestic and wild plants. However, these practices face a double invisibility: on the one hand, through food policies that favor biomedical approaches; on the other hand, through the growing disinterest of younger generations in favor of so-called "modern" food. This article argues that this marginalization constitutes an epistemic injustice that deprives communities of their food self-determination.