Millets, including sorghum, now take up over two hectares of her land — a patch where maize was once the crop of choice. All that has given a new impetus to locally grown and alternative grains, as well as other staples like millets. Proponents tout millets for their healthiness — they can be rich in proteins, potassium, and vitamin B — and most varieties are gluten-free. The U.N.'s World Food Programme deployed dozens of threshing machines and gave seed packs and training to 63,000 small-scale farmers in drought-prone areas in the previous season. “It’s really amazing that you can have a grain like this that’s been ignored for so long," Thiam said.

Source: Ethiopian News February 12, 2023 23:37 UTC