interview--How did the humble peanut result in slavery’s continuance in Africa?

Jori Lewis brings an incredible story of the significance of peanuts as food and for producing oil for machinery and for French soap in the mid-19th century. Its economic importance meant that French colonizers ignored the actions of African kings who enslaved babies, children, woman and men to be sure the peanut crops kept making them wealthy. There were a few heroes, including an African Christian in the Protestant tradition who hid runaway slaves until they could gain their freedom.