When it comes to discussions about which crops feed the world today, the list usually focuses on the “big four” of corn, wheat, rice and soybeans. Millets are not usually mentioned, and if they are, they are cast as food for resource poor farmers in developing countries, not as the crops that feed the common narrative of how to feed the world of the future. It is no coincidence that the bulk of research dollars go into these four crops, with other minor crops like millets receiving minimal if any support. When the technological innovations focused on these four crops require increased purchased inputs such as genetically modified seeds, pesticides, and synthetic chemical fertilizers, smallholder farmers can’t afford them or end up in deep debt. Too often the harvests of the big four are destined for distant markets, not the communities that produced them. Rather than supporting local food systems, such commodity crops mostly provide benefit for the suppliers of the inputs that go along with their production.
As agriculture around the world has transitioned to an industrial model focused on these commodity crops, agrobiodiversity has plummeted. This is especially true for the diverse group of cereals known as millets. Millets include pearl, proso, foxtail, barnyard, little, kodo, browntop, finger and Guinea millets, as well as fonio, sorghum (or great millet) and teff. They have been the essential sources of nourishment for millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, especially in areas with limited or highly variable rainfall. Millets are deeply rooted in Indigenous Peoples’ culture and traditions and help guarantee food security in smallholder and subsistence food systems. They are integrated into local food systems – from the field to the cooking pot – and have a long history of adaptation and selection for use in resource-limited regions.
In much of Central Asia and Africa, corn has displaced millets as the staple grain crop. But is it well known that corn, despite its ability to produce more calories per hectare than millets, also requires much more inputs such as fertilizers and water, is more susceptible to pests and disease, and is much more vulnerable to environmental shocks. Corn is also less adapted to poor soils and drought.
Greater millet production can support the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and can provide decent jobs for women and youth. A focus on local markets can boost economic growth. With the possibility of a healthy cereal alternative with millets, the risks associated with production shocks can be mitigated.
At a recent ceremony declaring 2023 as the International Year of Millets 2023 (IYM) at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Director-General QU Dongyu told participants: “Millets are incredible ancestral crops with high nutritional value. Millets can play an important role and contribute to our collective efforts to empower smallholder farmers, achieve sustainable development, eliminate hunger, adapt to climate change, promote biodiversity, and transform agrifood systems.”
IYM 2023 hopes to galvanize interest in millets among various stakeholders like farmers, the youth and civil society, and push governments and policy makers to prioritize the production and trade in these cereals. For more information on the declaration please see: https://www.fao.org/millets-2023.
Our journal looks forward to publishing case studies where communities are empowered to (re-) integrate millets of all types into their agroecosystems.