What is the English name for fonio?
Fonio is an annual tropical grass grown in West Africa for its starch-rich, tiny seeds. The 1000-gr En savoir plus
What is the meaning of fonio?
Martin Guyot
2025-11-14 17:36:30
Nombre de réponses
: 15
Fonio is considered to be the oldest cereal in West Africa.
In the cosmogony of Mali's Dogon people, the fonio grain, which is known as po, is the "germ of the world".
In 1955, the agronomist Roland Portères, who studied vernacular generic names, concluded by saying that the terms for fonio all have the meaning “food”, i.e. “something to eat”.
According to the famous French agronomist Roland Porteres, fonio is grown between latitudes 8 and 14 North, from Senegal to Lake Chad.
The first references to fonio as a food are reported from the mid-14th Century by the Berber explorer Ibn Battûta in his “Voyage to Sudan” (modern-day Mali).
He specified that, in these lands, coscoçoû (couscous) is prepared with foûni (fonio) "which is like mustard seeds".
Jean Mallet
2025-11-05 04:12:08
Nombre de réponses
: 20
Fonio is a tiny, nutritious, climate-smart ancient grain that has been prized across West Africa for over 5,000 years.
Fonio is high in protein, fiber, and iron; gluten-free, and with a low glycemic index.
The grain also has a particularly strong amino acid profile, and high levels of methionine and cysteine, which support tissue growth and are deficient in most grains.
Fonio is also valued for its easy digestibility and suitability for people suffering from diabetes.
In many parts of West Africa, fonio is considered sacred and is imbued with spiritual meaning.
In Dogon mythology, fonio is “the seed of the universe,” a single tiny grain from which the whole world originated.
Yolélé fonio is Digitaria exilis, the species grown from Senegal and Guinea through Mali and Burkina Faso.
Another species, Digitaria iborua, grows in the eastern end of West Africa, from Togo and Benin to Nigeria.
Fonio has the potential to transform the economic landscape of rural West Africa.
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Is fonio the same as couscous?
Fonio acha or hungry rice is the grain that is better than quinoa as king among superfoods. The Mos En savoir plus
Christelle Diaz
2025-10-25 06:15:20
Nombre de réponses
: 21
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.