Laura Pereira , associate professor of the Global Change Institute at Wits University in a recent research project found that the benefits and value of indigenous foods in the African context had not been fully understood. The research found Sorghum an excellent example.
Sorghum’s potential was highlighted in a report in the academic journal The Conversation.
The report noted that Sorghum is as nutritious as maize and has high drought tolerance. This makes it a resilient option for farmers to plant under changing climatic conditions. However it is often looked down on as “poor man’s food” or used as the basis of a traditional beer.
This fifth most important cereal crop grown in the world, the report said interest in sorghum needed to be “reinvigorated” because healthy diets were unaffordable to most Africans. “Sorghum is one of the most important cereal grains for food consumption in Africa.
“Africa is the world regional leader in total production of sorghum at 25.6 million tonnes, but it has the average lowest yield at 967 kilograms per hectare. It is indigenous to the continent’s savannas and there is archaeological evidence in the Sahara of the use of sorghum dating back 8 000 years.”
For instance, in 2020/ 2021, Nigeria was the second largest producer of sorghum followed by Ethiopia.
This most important cereal crop is locally called guinea- corn or dawa, and it is the most important food crop in the savanna areas of Nigeria.
Grown on about 5.9million ha with current annual production estimated to be about 6.7 million tonnes, sorghum is grown by over 59% and 55%of farmers in Adamawa and Borno states in northern Nigeria respectively.
Sorghum production in South Africa had declined from a peak of around 700 000 tonnes in the 1980s to a low of 100 000 tonnes in the late 2010s.
The report called for research and innovation in the production and use of sorghum, not just as a commodity but as a culturally significant food.
“Sorghum products – newly developed ones and reconfigurations of traditional gastronomy – must meet modern consumers’ need for convenience and aspirational preferences. Then there could be a revolution in the sorghum market.
“Public procurement of sorghum, for example in schools, could not only teach children about these crops, but provide a more diversified and healthy diet – while enabling a market for farmers,” it said.
Increasing sorghum production in Africa is an initiative both the public and private sectors should crab with both hands.