Fonio – a gluten-free grain with many nutritional benefits – has been cultivated as a subsistence crop in West Africa for thousands of years. It is drought-resistant, can grow without the support of fertiliser and restores organic matter in fallow soil. Despite the crop’s long history in the region, it is not fully commercialised.
Thanks to fonio’s nutritional profile, demand has been growing in regions such as the US and Europe.
One advocate for fonio’s potential is Timi Oke, co-founder and CEO of AgroEknor, a Nigerian company exporting dried hibiscus flowers to markets in the US, Mexico, and Europe. AgroEknor turned its attention to fonio after exploring additional crops for the hibiscus farmers in its supply chain.
“You don’t need fertilisers for fonio, you can literally just throw the seeds of fonio on the ground and it will grow … It can grow on any type of soil,” Oke said in an interview with How we made it in Africa.
He mentioned an article by Bill Gates that highlights fonio’s benefits and notes that brewer Carlsberg has launched a beer made solely from fonio grains, without barley or bittering hops.
However, AgroEknor is primarily looking at fonio for the Nigerian market. “We are more interested in using fonio as a substitute for rice domestically because Nigeria imports rice and it’s just not practical.” Yet, Oke acknowledged one of the key challenges with fonio: its processing. The grain requires dehusking, which is a labour-intensive process.
Watch our full in-depth interview with Timi Oke: Entrepreneur turns Nigerian superfood into a global export business
