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.
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