Improvement of post-harvest and enhancement of fonio in Africa (Aval Fonio)

Fonio (Digitaria exilis) is a cereal providing small grains and is considered to be the oldest cultivated cereal in West Africa. Fonio is a staple food for millions of people in a region extending from Senegal to Lake Chad.

Champ de fonio en Guinée (© Cirad, J-F Cruz)
Zone de production du fonio (©  J-F Cruz, Cirad)
Epi de fonio (© J-F Cruz, Cirad)
Racèmes de fonio (© J-F Cruz, Cirad)
Battage traditionnel du fonio (© J-F Cruz, Cirad)
Mélange de grains de fonio paddy, décortiqués et blanchis (© J-F Cruz, Cirad)
Dessablage du fonio (© P. Thaunay, Cirad)

Resistant to drought and adapted to poor soils, fonio plays an important role in food security and preserving biodiversity, often in marginal areas where it is grown by large numbers of small producers. Further east, the small-grain cereal most often grown is finger millet

Movie The fonio

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Coordination

Jean-François CRUZ, Cirad, UMR QualiSud, Montpellier, France