Millet, the supercereal that drives away hunger

Contains fibers, vitamins and antioxidants.

It is hypoglycemic and suitable for coeliacs.

It grows in contexts where other cereals do not survive: with hardly any water, in degraded soils, with temperatures of up to 60 °C and with few fertilizers.

As if that were not enough, it is tasty and can be cooked in multiple ways.

No, this is not an advertorial.

So how have we been able to live by turning our backs on this superfood?

More than a well-kept secret, millet is a forgotten and often neglected cereal, a reality that the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) wants to transform.

The UN General Assembly declared 2023 the International Year of Millet and, unfortunately, the context could not be more appropriate, in a world battered by the tail end of the pandemic and by the Russian invasion of Ukraine exactly one year ago.

The objective of the UN with this initiative is ambitious: to promote the consumption of this cereal not only in homes in New Delhi and Dakar, but in those of Madrid and New York, and for this it is necessary to increase production and underline the virtues of these grains before farmers, consumers and especially governments, so that they put into practice policies that encourage crops.

“In many places millet is considered a food for the poor.

When these countries increase their income level they begin to introduce different cereals.

For example, today many people in the cities of millet-producing states simply don't know how to prepare it,” says Ana Islas Ramos, an FAO nutrition officer.

Jestina Nyamukunguvengu walks through a pearl millet field in Zimbabwe's Rushinga district in January 2023. Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi (AP)

Pearl millet, common millet, foxtail millet, Japanese millet, little millet, koda millet, brown millet, African millet, Guinea millet, fonio, sorghum and teff.

They are all millets and they are all different.

They are thousands of years old and are called traditional grains, that is to say, they have not suffered manipulations and mutations in this long journey, although they have been gradually displaced by corn, wheat or rice, less nutrients, but much More popular.

According to the FAO, millet only represents 3% of world cereal trade and its largest producers are India, Nigeria, Niger and China, which are also its major consumers.

In countries like Spain, it is still associated with feed or food for sparrows.

"It is an ideal solution for countries to increase their self-sufficiency and reduce dependence on cereal imports"

Makiko Taguchi, Agriculture Expert at FAO

At the launch of the International Year of Millet, the Director General of the FAO, Qu Dongyu, stressed that it can be a powerful tool to change the lives of thousands and thousands of small farmers, "fight against food insecurity and climate change, promote biodiversity and transform agri-food systems”.

Promoting its cultivation and consumption is also contributing to the progress of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda.

“It is an ideal solution for countries to increase their self-sufficiency and decrease dependence on cereal imports,” adds Makiko Taguchi, an agriculture expert at FAO.

Elisabeth Faure, director of the World Food Program (WFP) in India, also emphasizes that "climate change forces us to rethink supply chains to avoid long-distance transport and promote crops adapted to the local environment."

The person in charge stresses to this newspaper the need to bet on "foods with important nutritional virtues and with less harmful effects on the land, that minimize the use of harmful chemical inputs and, what is more important, that involve local communities."

“And millet is an example of a solution to these challenges.

It is a crop for the future,” she explains.

Food for the poor does not exist

According to Islas Ramos, "ideally we should consume all millets", since they have much more fiber and nutrients than wheat and rice.

"For example, pearl millet has more fatty acids, it could even be made into oil, and foxtail millet has a significant protein content," she cites.

Bringing this grain to all kitchens in the world is precisely the objective of one of the ambassadors of this International Year of Millet, the Sierra Leonean chef Fatmata Binto, awarded in 2022 with the Basque Culinary World Prize (BCWP), a kind of Nobel Prize for stoves.

The chef, who has designed a nomadic kitchen that internationally shows the customs and flavors of Fulani cooking, the largest nomadic tribe in Africa, has launched a challenge for cooks or food lovers: make a recipe with millet, record a video and post it.

“Many people have responded to me and not just chefs.

Fonio, which is the millet that I use the most, is beginning to be known and liked because it is a very complete food, although in the mentality of some people it is still believed that it is a food for the poor.

It is a mistake to make those classifications, food for the poor does not exist, ”he explains from Accra, where his foundation grows fonio, trains Fulani women and supports community projects.

For today, Binta prone a fonio salad, prepared like couscous, with tomato, mangoes, kale, coriander, parsley, mint and a honey vinaigrette.

And for dessert,

, millet semolina with yogurt, honey and ginger.

change habits

WFP currently supports smallholder farmers in countries like India and Zimbabwe, and its work includes advocating for the cultivation of different types of millet, especially in extreme weather periods.

“Last year, for example, in October we started preparing farmers in a region of Zimbabwe for the drought that would hit in February.

We distributed these traditional grains, helped them build wells, and gave them information.

I myself went to see the area months later and where millet was planted, the plant was perfect, while the maize did not resist”, explains María Gallar, spokesperson for the WFP in Zimbabwe.

People taste millet and like it, but in a country like Zimbabwe, for example, and in southern Africa in general, maize is still king.

María Gallar, WFP spokesperson in Zimbabwe

But the great challenge, in the words of this person in charge, is to "change consumption habits", especially in southern African countries.

“People try millet and like it, but in a country like Zimbabwe, for example, and in southern Africa in general, maize is still king.

No one goes to bed without having eaten their

, a paste made from cornmeal.

It costs a lot to change what one eats, it is as if they took our bread away from us, ”she explains.

On the other hand, Islas Ramos also emphasizes that millet, being a small grain, is more difficult to thresh and clean and also requires more cooking time, which can discourage families with few resources, who prefer to use less firewood. and cook rice.

"That is why we need an overall vision and see what can be done to facilitate the consumption of millets," underlines the nutrition expert.

Despite the reluctance and difficulties, this cereal is slowly gaining followers.

“The people we work with are doing very well growing millet.

His neighbors see it and also sign up.

We are talking about subsistence agriculture, but at the same time, there are also efforts to start selling part of it," Gallar stresses.

Maria Chagwena, a Zimbabwean farmer, winnows millet on her property in the Rushinga district near the country's capital Harare in January 2023Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi (AP)

A “smart” food

The numbers begin to show that something is slowly changing, although there is still a long way to go.

In India, millet production has risen from 14.52 million tons in 2015-16 to 17.96 million tons in 2020-21, according to the WFP.

In the case of fonio, for example, both the global cultivated area and production have increased significantly, according to the FAO.

In 1994, slightly less than 250,000 tons of fonio were produced and in 2021 it was close to 700,000 tons.

These days, the Indian mission to the UN inaugurated an exhibition on the benefits of millet at the Organization's headquarters in New York.

"It's more than just food, it's smart food," said India's ambassador to the UN, Ruchira Kamboj, referring to its versatility and resistance.

“Ideally, we should consume all the millets”

Ana Islas Ramos, nutrition expert at FAO

By promoting the virtues of millet, FAO is also confident that if the crops prosper it will mean an improvement in the living conditions of small producers, especially women and youth.

Faure stresses that in India, millet works very well "in family farming, in tribal communities where women work the land and few inputs are needed, such as fertilizers, water and pesticides, but a high yield is achieved, since the grain it does not rot easily, not even when it rains excessively”.

"86% of Indian farmers belong to the small and medium-scale category and the development of millet could directly benefit them," he estimates.

In Zimbabwe, Gallar also stresses the need to always involve women in millet planting and promotion projects: "If they are pregnant, the cereal can provide them with the necessary nutritional contributions and it is also important that they have all the information about the millet because they are the ones who continue to take care of feeding their children”.

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