March 29. 2024. 12:13

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How ancient grains could lead the fight against climate change, hunger


With global food security under strain, millets – one of the oldest cereals known to human civilisation – could help fight the food and climate crisis.

Of the 6,000 to 7,000 plant species humans have eaten over time, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates that the world now predominantly eats nine crops, of which just three — rice, wheat, and maize — provide 50% of all calories.

For much of the past century, traditional grains including millet were considered backward, set to be replaced by new, technologically-driven crops.

However, over the past years, the narrative has started to revert back to diversification and re-embracing ancient grain alternatives.

The UN dubbed 2023 as the “The Year of Millets” in an effort to revive a hardy and healthy crop that has been cultivated for millennia, following a project proposed by India, where the grain is indigenous.

While wheat and rice are the primary cereals grown and consumed in India, the government in Delhi has been pushing for a millet revolution to mitigate future food stress.

A solution to crises?

“If there is today a concentrated global push of millets grown in 130 countries, what you will see (is) these 130 countries will surely enhance their own self-reliance and food security,” India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said at a celebration of 2023 of the International Year of Millets last November.

Jaishankar said millet-growing nations should not only think purely of nutritional or agricultural exercise or something which will improve farmers’ income, but of the wider implications, including expanded protection of a greater diversity of food.

Over centuries, millets have been cultivated around the world, but their epicentres have traditionally been India, China, and sub-Saharan Africa.

Being one of the oldest cereals known to human civilisation and once headed for extinction, varieties of millet could now take centre stage in the fight against climate change and global hunger, agrifood experts believe.

This comes especially as last year has seen increased drought sweep across much of eastern Africa and Russia’s war in Ukraine raise the prices of foodstuffs and fertiliser from Europe’s breadbasket, seen by some as a threat to global food security.

“What is very crucial is when we are faced with different shocks, including climate crises, pandemics or war and conflicts, the food systems are encountering problems – millets here can be they contribute to diversifying the availability of food,” Zdravka Dimitrova, the FAO’s International Year of Millets Coordinator, told EURACTIV.

“They’re resilient and it’s time to bring attention to them because they can support the improvement of livelihoods of family farmers or small farmers as they are very adaptable to climate, adverse climate conditions,” Dimitrova added.

Asked whether they could mitigate the lack of grain from Ukraine we see currently in the long-term, Dimitrova said one “cannot really speak of replacement”.

Millets account for less than 3% of the global grain trade, according to the FAO.

“They are therefore an ideal solution for countries to increase self-sufficiency and reduce reliance on imported cereal grains,” said the UN agency.

“They can help overcome food scarcity in difficult periods, contributing to food security and nutrition for vulnerable populations, because they’re very diverse,” Dimitrova said.

Millets are more tolerant of poor soils, drought and harsh growing conditions, and can easily adapt to different environments without high levels of fertiliser and pesticide.

They don’t need nearly as much water as other grains, making them ideal for places like Africa’s arid Sahel region, and their deep roots of varieties can help mitigate desertification, the process that transforms fertile soil into the desert, often because of drought or deforestation.

“They can go basically where other grains cannot, so that definitely contributes to food security and nutrition and they’re very often the only crops that can be harvested in the dry season which makes them a crucial part of the household’s food basket,” Dimitrova said.

“The sustainable production of millets can fight hunger, it contributes to food security and nutrition in the context also of the Sustainable Development Goals,” she said.

Superfood in-the-making?

But with the marketing push from food organisations and producer countries, nutritionally dense millets could also become a popular superfood.

“Millets are often called nutri-cereals due to their high nutritional value and content compared to commonly grown cereals like wheat, rice and corn – from this point of view, they contribute to human and animal health, including the health of mothers and their kids,” Dimitrova said.

“They’re a good option for people with high blood sugar, they’re also gluten-free and since it’s a very good option in terms of cost-effective source for iron, especially in addressing iron deficiencies,” Dimitrova said.

India, for instance, hopes to build a strong international market pull for the ancient seed, though it doesn’t represent its biggest export good.

The country’s share in the total production of millets in the world in 2022 was 39%, followed by Niger (11%), China (9%) and Nigeria (7%), according to the US Department of Agriculture.

According to India’s federal agriculture ministry, the country produced around 17 million tonnes of millet in 2020-21, but during the same period generated more than 231 million tonnes of paddy and wheat.

But overall millet productivity has increased by more than two times, and pearl millet productivity has tripled.

According to agri experts, the designation of an international “Year of Millets” could help popularise millets to the level of one of the most famous food fads of recent times – quinoa.

Before 2013, quinoa too was a neglected and underutilised crop and was grown in 50 countries, but after the dedicated year, the number grew to over 123 countries, according to the FAO.