Opportunities for Enhancing Production, Utilization and Marketing of Finger Millet in Africa

Abstract

The world is faced with the challenge to produce more food to feed a projected 9 billion people worldwide; including 2.5 billion in Africa. Just a few "mega-crops" currently feed the world, with rice, wheat and maize providing 60 percent of the total population's energy intake. Finger millet belongs to a group of secondary crops that provide another 25 percent of the world's food energy. Finger millet is adaptable to diverse agro-ecological conditions, has beneficial nutritional properties and outstanding agronomic attributes as a subsistence food crop; therefore, it holds promise for the future of food and nutrition security in Africa and around the world. Despite these desirable attributes, only about 3 million tones are produced globally each year. Common production constraints include low soil fertility, Striga weed infestation, and pest and disease pressure, particularly finger millet blast disease, which can cause up to 50% yield loss. Low rates of finger millet production are compounded by a lack of stable market outlets and inadequate product development strategies. Recent research efforts in Africa and South Asia, however, have the potential of alleviating these production constraints. Opportunities now exist for enhanced technology development, which may increase production, product development, value addition, marketing and consumption of finger millet. Capitalizing on these opportunities could ensure that finger millet, as a "novel" crop, increases food and nutrition security in Africa and around the world.

Mineral Content, Functional, Thermo-Pasting, and Microstructural Properties of Spontaneously Fermented Finger Millet Flours

“…It is commonly cultivated in subtropical and tropical areas where it is difficult to grow other cereal crops such as maize and wheat [ 3 ]. In Africa, FM is widely cultivated in Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Burundi, Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia [ 4 ]. There are different cultivars of FM such as white, brown, and reddish cultivars [ 5 ].…”

Genetics and breeding for climate change in Orphan crops

“…The increasing demand for healthy products in the west and among the growing middle and upper class in developing nations has the potential to drive the demand for healthy orphan crops. However, value addition, better presentation and packaging (Opole 2019 ) will be needed for these products to appeal to consumers.…”

Proximate Analysis, Sensory Evaluation and Production of Bread from Finger Millet and Wheat Flour

“…FM is ranked 4th among other millets in the world in importance after sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) and foxtail millet (Setaria italica). It is cultivated in some parts of African countries such as Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, and South Asian country (Opole, 2019). FM is referred to as mufhoho (Tshivenda) in South Africa (Ramashia et al, 2019) and dagussa in Ethiopia (Kumar et al, 2016).…”