the 20th century, African farmers and consumers still value fonio highly because it is nutritious and extremely fast growing.
Fonio is a very hardy crop and grows well on poor shallow, sandy or rocky soils unsuitable for other cereals, but does not prosper in saline or heavy soils. It can even produce seed on soils with aluminum levels that are toxic to other crops and can be relied on in dry savannah lands, where rains are brief and unreliable.
Fonio requires little input in its cultivation and it is highly adapted to drought and low-fertility soils. Fonio is grown at sea level in Gambia, Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone, but more often it is cultivated at 600–1500 m altitude. The average temperature in the growing season ranges from 20ºC at higher altitudes to 25–30ºC near sea level.
Fonio is grown in areas with an average annual rainfall of 150–3000mm, but its cultivation is concentrated in regions with an average annual rainfall of 900–1000mm. It is not as drought resistant as pearl millet, but fast-maturing landraces reaching maturity in only 8 weeks are suited to areas with short and unreliable rains. In areas with very low rainfall it is grown in valleys benefiting from run-off water.
The entire fonio production in Africa is estimated at 250,000 to 300,000tons/year on more than 380,000 hectares. Fonio grains are used by African consumers in porridge and couscous, for bread, and for brewing beer. The tiny grains are gluten-free and rich in protein, and consumers outside Africa are beginning to recognize its flavour and nutritional qualities. Fonio is light and easy to digest and can be included in many different cereal-based recipes, making it an attractive ingredient for health food products for those with gluten intolerance, in poor health or for baby food.
A major obstacle to increasing fonio production is the long and complex processing. The tiny grain makes dehusking and milling, traditionally done by women using a pestle and mortar, highly laborious.
Moreover, post-harvest activities are laborious and time-consuming. Meanwhile, urbanization and related changes leading to an increased demand of industrially produced and sophisticated foods induced a rapid shift of coarse grains to non-traditional grains. This resulted in a decreased consumption of fonio as traditional food, particularly in urban areas.
Also, to define quality criteria for precooked fonio, and determine consumer demand in Africa and Europe remains unsolved yet. As regards quality, sand (used for processing) in whitened (processed) fonio is still one of the main problems to be solved in order to produce quality fonio for sale in supermarkets and on the export market.
Moreover, it is difficult for small-holder farmers to increase their production volume without access to finance. Efforts are on their ways for Senegalese farmers growing fonio to exploring ways of improving local and export markets.
Research efforts at national and regional levels focus are currently focusing on:
Research institutes and development organizations in the sub region are now devoting more attention to the crop. The following results have been achieved: