THIS year, 2023, has been designated International Year of Millet (IYOM) by the United Nations, with the intent of bringing to the attention of Governments and Ministries of Agriculture worldwide the value of a crop that could help to counter the food shortage which is affecting many parts of the world, and also could help to balance the nutritional deficiencies of their diets.

Millets are among the first food plants to be domesticated by human beings, and are still a traditional staple food crop in Sub- Saharan Africa and Asia. Though it is grown in many countries, India is the top producer, followed by Nigeria, Niger and China.

Millets, like many cereals, is a grass, and encompasses a diverse group of small-grained, dryland cereals. They can survive in harsh growing conditions with poor soils, have climate resilience, and are adaptable. These characteristics would allow semi-desertification lands to produce more food with millet cultivation, and for those countries better endowed by nature to even achieve food surplus.

Millet used to be much more consumed worldwide than it is today, but with the shifting food preferences to cereals like wheat and rice, the demand for millet and its production fell. With the current food shortages worldwide, and many developing countries’ desire to create more opportunities for small-scale farmers, millet is beginning to recover lost ground. Guyana is an example of a country which is developing its millet cultivation with the intention of supplying the local market and later exporting.

Millet provides a very healthy diet; it is gluten-free, and rich in minerals such as calcium, iron, zinc, phosphorus, magnesium and potassium. It also contains dietary fibres and vitamins such as folic acid, vitamin B6, carotene and niacin.

Millet could be ground into flour, or used in other ways. The fact of its being used in so many different cultural regions results in its being cooked and prepared in many different ways, and the repertoire of its recipes could satisfy any taste.
Though now a notable oil-and-gas producer bringing in large revenues, Guyana is determined not to be caught in the syndrome of the Dutch Disease or resource curse, and is diversifying its economic base using part of the oil revenues to do this. One very important area of diversification is Agriculture.

Traditional Guyanese agriculture revolved around the production of rice, sugar, ground provisions and fruit. This traditional base is being developed, while new expansion is taking place in livestock, dairy, fishing, and the introduction of new crops. Among these new crops is millet.

Production of millet is an attractive option for small farmers, who will have increased employment; it will, in time, be partly an imported wheat substitute, enrichen the population’s diet, and surplus production could find a niche market in the very large Indian Diaspora. The Ministry of Agriculture and the Carnegie School of Home Economics should begin to explore the millet recipes from various parts of the world, and promote the use of the cereal.

Guyana has secured the help and partnership of India, who will provide a team of experts to develop several millet farms. India will provide technical assistance and training, and will help Guyana to promote the grain in the Caribbean and South America. Haiti, with its exhausted soils, could be a beneficiary from Guyana’s aid in this regard.

Millet production is about to take off, and all are confident of its success.