What is the meaning of fonio?

Fonio is an annual tropical grass grown in West Africa for its starch-rich, tiny seeds. Fonio is an ascending, free-tillering annual cereal grass. Fonio grain is a high quality cereal, with a particularly good nutty taste, and a favourable amino acid profile. An important trait of fonio is its resistance to drought and its adaptation to climate change. Fonio grain, once dehulled and polished to removed the hulls and bran, is primarily used for food rather than for feed though it can be very valuable for monogastric animals. The fruit is a minute caryopsis, oblong to globose-ellipsoid in shape, about 0.5 mm long, white to pale brown or purplish in colour. Fonio is a staple food but also a gourmet and prestige food. It has slender, kneed stems growing up to 80 cm in height.