Fonio (Digitaria exilis (Kippist) Stapf): A socially embedded cereal for food and nutrion security in Senegal

Abstract

Agricultural diversificaon with neglected and underulized species is a viable way to sustainably increase the producvity of agrosystems. Understanding the social, cultural, and ecological roles of these species is crucial for their promoon. White fonio (Digitaria exilis), a neglected cereal endemic to West African Sahelian countries, is recognized as a crop for the future due to its cultural, nutrional, and economic values. In this study, we described fonio farming systems in Senegal through an ethnobotanical approach. As expected in family farming systems, farmers largely pracced diversified subsistence agriculture on small plots and relied on local seed exchange networks. The importance of fonio varied among agroecological zones, ethnic groups, and gender. In the Groundnut Basin, where agriculture is more mechanized, late-maturing landraces of fonio are culvated as a cash crop rather than a staple crop. However, in southern Senegal, where food shortages are recurrent, fonio is more widespread and the culvaon of both early‐ and late‐maturing landraces contributes to local food security. These differences also reflect the cultural status of fonio: different among ethnic groups and more important for women than for men. Finally, the regressive dynamics of fonio culvaon in most regions emphasizes the need to develop integrated conservaon and promoon strategies that take into account the diversity of social and agronomical roles of the plant.