Fonio

An ancient cereal grain, Digitaria exilis, known as white fonio or hungry rice, among the oldest cultivated cereals in West Africa, grown for centuries across the Sahel and savanna zones of countries including Mali, Guinea, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Nigeria. Fonio is prized for its short growing cycle, as little as six to eight weeks from planting to harvest, and its tolerance of poor, dry soils, making it a valuable crop in food-insecure regions and seasons. Its tiny grains have historically been labor-intensive to hull and process by hand, a barrier that limited its commercial spread beyond West Africa, though mechanized processing and renewed interest in traditional and gluten-free grains have begun to expand its market in the twenty-first century.