| Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet.
You may not have heard of fonio, but it is Africa's oldest cereal. For the Dogon people of Mali, fonio is "the seed of the universe" - an appropriate name considering its high nutritional value, and adaptability to the region's soil and climate. From Lake Chad to the savannah regions of Senegal and Guinea, fonio is an important source of food for some 4 million people across West Africa.
 It is one of the most nutritious of all grains. Fonio is rich in important amino acids - not found in wheat, rice, maize, or sorghum - such as methionine and cystine, which help synthesize protein. And its low sugar content makes fonio an ideal food for people with diabetes.
The plant can tolerate poor soils, which are often too infertile for other cereals, like sorghum and pearl millet. Given its adaptability, fonio is widely cultivated across the Fouta Djallon Plateau of Guinea, because it can grow on acidic soils with a high aluminum content that is harmful to other crops. And when low rainfall makes it difficult for farmers in Sierra Leone to grow rice in their paddies, they often turn to fonio to protect them from total crop failure.
Fonio is also among the world's fastest maturing cereals. Crops produce grains as quickly as 6 to 8 weeks after being planted, and are ready to be harvested long before most other grains. During Africa's hungry season, when farmers are waiting for other crops to mature, fonio becomes the "grain of life." It is this property that gives fonio its popular English name, "hungry rice." But people also grow fonio because they love how it tastes.
Black fonio, as well as the more popular white varieties, are characterized by very small seeds, which are an important ingredient in traditional dishes. When cooked, fonio has a consistency similar to couscous, and is served with a peanut sauce or chicken stew. It is also used to make porridge and gruel, and you can be sure to find fonio among the food served at religious and traditional ceremonies. The Lambas in northern Togo also brew a traditional beer (tchapalo) from white fonio. And the grain, chaff, and straw make excellent fodder for cattle, sheep, goats, and donkeys. And if that's not enough, the straw can also be chopped and mixed with clay to build walls or burned to provide heat for cooking.
Unfortunately, although fonio's value is evident, it has not received much attention. Farmers speak of the need for better processing equipment that can help reduce labor, as well as the need to develop greater demand for the crop and better access to markets. As innovative efforts to preserve Africa's food security crop up across the continent, people are starting to focus on fonio.
To learn more about crops indigenous to Africa, see: Reigniting an Interest in Local food, Traditional Food Crops Provide Community Resilience in Face of Climate Change, Monkey Oranges: Mouthwatering Potential, The Green Gold of Africa, The Locust Bean: An Answer to Africa's Greatest Needs in One Tree, Lablab: The Bountiful, Beautiful Legume, Moringa: The Giving Tree, Black-eyed Peas to the Rescue, and The Taming of the Dika: West Africa's Most Eligible Wild Tree. |
