Issues

Even today, post-harvest and processing practices for fonio are, for the most part, traditional and manual.

The work of hulling, winnowing, washing and removing sand - work conducted for the most part by women - is exhausting and sometimes leads to the disappearance of fonio production in certain areas. 

To counter the decline of this cereal, it is therefore essential to resolve numerous post-harvest problems, notably mechanising post-harvest techniques and improving the quality of the products processed by women's groups or small businesses. 

Research has been conducted within previous projects (see the Fonio website) that has seen mechanisation begin to make an appearance in the sector (hulling, threshing etc). But efforts are still needed to mechanise those operations currently conducted manually and to validate and transfer skills and knowledge.