Pearl millet — making a great grain even better - video Dailymotion

DW (English)

Pearl millet can be a life saver across Africa's savanna regions at this time of year, while farmers wait to harvest other crops. It's nutritious, resilient to extreme weather and grows fast. How can its potential be maximized?

Transcript

00:00Thankfully, there are still a few cups of millet left.

00:06It is all due to Mwelebit Lambong has to feed her grandchildren and herself.

00:12Many families in Jimbalee, northern Ghana, are in the same position.

00:16They mainly grow maize or rice.

00:19The next harvest is still a few weeks away and supplies are running low.

00:23Then there is the prolonged drought.

00:26Many peanut plants have withered.

00:28Some of the maize too, where rice is not maturing.

00:35At the largest hospital in the region, the Baptist Medical Center in Nalergu, many patients

00:40are malnourished.

00:41Asia Sumaila is expecting a baby.

00:45And like half of the pregnant women here, she is suffering from anemia.

00:50Her blood has too few red blood cells because she doesn't have enough to eat.

00:58When a new day breaks, if I am lucky, I eat three times.

01:03At worst, only once.

01:07Pregnant women with anemia lack important nutrients, so they often give birth to malnourished

01:12children.

01:13To year, Olbismak's health has worsened over the past five months.

01:17He has lost more weight and is always tired.

01:20He is just one of the 13 children being treated here for acute malnutrition.

01:26Olbismak is malnourished and the middle upper arm circumference is 9.2, which shows that

01:37he is actually severely malnourished.

01:41Lambon Maturga and his family are doing all they can to produce more food.

01:45While other farmers are still hoping their maize will survive the drought, his family

01:50is already harvesting.

01:53That's because they planted palm millet.

01:55It's sown earlier than maize and is more resistant to drought.

02:04Farming this crop is good.

02:06It will help any household around this time of the year.

02:09Those who refused to grow millet are now regretting that decision.

02:15I always depend on it every year and it never fails me.

02:26The Ghanaian government has long promoted the cultivation of maize and rice at the expense

02:29of millet.

02:31This is because the yields per hectare are significantly higher for maize, for example.

02:36The country only produces around 200,000 tonnes of millet annually and more than 15 times

02:42as much maize.

02:44As recommended by the government, farmer Mohamed Adam Yahaya grows rice and maize.

02:50But he is worried that his yields will suffer due to the drought.

02:53He's also tried millet, but because his fields are in constant use, the soil is too depleted

02:59for millet.

03:00Here, we have practiced those ones and we've seen that it's not suitable here.

03:06So you can only do maize.

03:08Even some of the millet we do, but it's not all that OK for us because the fertility is

03:14not more like it used to be.

03:17So we are not much particular on the rice, the maize and some of the yam.

03:24New varieties of palm millet could solve the problem.

03:28They are being propagated here in the test fields at the Savannah Agricultural Research

03:32Institute in northern Ghana.

03:36Varieties that can thrive despite depleted soils and that are even better adapted to drought.

03:44When you get a little rain but it's well distributed, it will be able to do well.

03:48Where maize will not stand, millet will stand.

03:52It requires very little quantities of inputs in terms of fertilizer.

03:56You don't spray millet fields with anything.

03:59These new varieties can be stored at a cold room at the institute.

04:03Right now, it's almost empty because the new millet is being analyzed in the lab.

04:08Other samples have already been sent to some 5,000 farmers across northern Ghana for trial.

04:13The feedback has mostly been good.

04:16Meanwhile, Lambon Maturka and his family have almost completed the millet harvest.

04:22They are still using a traditional variety of palm millet, and yet they've harvested

04:26600 kilos in two weeks without the use of chemicals.

04:32More than enough to bridge this short lean season where there is no maize.

04:36The family can even sell the millet and, in the meantime, focus on maize which will need

04:42chemical fertilizers.

04:50We finished harvesting the millet and I've just planted some maize on the same field.

04:57In two weeks' time, I will apply fertilizer.

05:00The plants are already looking good.

05:07In nearby Jimbale, Mwibir Ama and other street food bakers now have enough millet to cook

05:12traditional deep fried balls made from millet, water and little sugar.

05:18It is a popular dish and affordable at around 5 euros cents per ball.

05:23They are rich in nutrients like iron and magnesium.

05:27And that's not all.

05:32Millet is a healthy meal.

05:34It is organic, no one sprays chemicals on it, so it's good for our health.

05:43Palm millet may still be the underdog among Ghana's crops.

05:47But it has the potential to really improve the country's food security and stand up to

05:52the challenges of a changing climate.

Pearl millet — making a great grain even better

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