U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) contributes success stories to the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) to demonstrate the return on investment of market development programs, supporting continued federal funding for programs that identify, build and maintain international demand for all six classes of U.S. wheat.

Colonial ties still shape Senegal’s wheat imports, like when it relates to producing French-style baguettes. U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) is working to overcome the perception that only French wheat produces quality baguettes, leading to the first U.S. wheat exports to Senegal in a decade in 2025.

USW, funded by the Regional Agricultural Promotion Program (RAPP), launched a multi-year engagement strategy beginning with the inclusion of Senegalese participants in baking seminars at the IFIM Institute in Casablanca, Morocco.

In November 2024, master baker Didier Rosada led the first seminar for 11 West African participants, including two participants from Senegal and two participants from Cote d’Ivoire. The baking seminar demonstrated the use of different blends of U.S. wheat in baguette production, including U.S. hard red winter (HRW), hard red spring (HRS), and soft red winter (SRW) wheat.

As a result, participants agreed to conduct trials with flour samples in January 2025. After conducting their own baking trials in their mills with colleagues, the participants were satisfied with the results, leading to a purchase of U.S. wheat.

In August 2025, a total of 34,500 metric tons (MT) (1.27 million bushels) of U.S. HRW wheat was purchased. The vessel was split between milling companies in Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire. The sale of 18,992 MT (698,000 bushels) was the first U.S. wheat sold to Senegal since 2017/2018.

Loaded in the Port of Houston, the vessel arrived in Dakar on September 8, 2025. U.S. Ambassador Michael Raynor joined Seaboard representatives and the High Commander of the Port of Dakar for a portside ceremony and press event highlighting U.S. trade and investment in Senegal.

“The shipment we’re welcoming today, and its journey to Senegal are perfect examples of the intersection of global and local impact, and of the strong and growing partnership between the United States and Senegal,” Ambassador Raynor said. “And this wheat will now be unloaded by Senegalese dock workers, enter the Senegalese market, and end its journey on the tables of Senegalese families.”

In December 2025, USW conducted an additional baking seminar for West African companies at the IFIM Institute in Casablanca, Morocco. The seminar, also funded through RAPP, included 15 West African participants from Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Guinea and Mali. Following the baking seminars, participants were impressed by the results of U.S. wheat blends for their own baguette flour and thought the bread quality was better than what they currently use for baguette production.

Using the confidence in using U.S. HRW in their baguette production, two bakers from the seminar implemented the poolish technique for baguettes they learned during these courses during their participation in the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie (Bakery World Cup Grand Final). The Senegal team was one of the top 10 finalist countries at the January 2026 competition.

Ultimately, USW’s baking seminars helped re-establish the United States as the second-largest supplier of U.S. wheat to Senegal by embedding a preference for U.S. wheat classes into the specific formulations for millers and bakers.