Fonio

Fonio is often called the oldest cultivated cereal in West Africa. Its grains are tiny, smaller than a grain of sand, and it grows on poor, hilly soils where little else will, often without any fertilizer. In Togo, farmers harvested about 4,500 tonnes in 2022–2023, in the hills of the Kara region (Kéran, Doufelgou, Dankpen, Bassar), the Plateaux (Akébou, Amou, Wawa) and Oti-Sud in the Savanes.

Fonio is still cut by hand, threshed and carefully hulled, which is why clean fonio is precious. Once prepared, it cooks in a few minutes into light, fluffy grains with a delicate nutty taste. Serve it like couscous, or in salads, porridges and bowls. It is naturally free of gluten and has become a favourite of health-food brands and chefs in North America. Our fonio is not tested or certified gluten-free.

Two forms:

• Dehulled & cleaned: hulled, whitened and washed free of sand and stones, ready to steam or boil.
• Precooked: steamed and dried, ready in 3 to 5 minutes with boiling water. The most convenient form for retail and food service.

How we supply it:

• Moisture 12 % or less, sorted and stone-free.
• Packed in food-grade sacks of 10 kg or 25 kg, or by the pallet of 500 kg.
• Shipped by sea freight in dry containers. Volumes are limited, so we confirm availability before each order.
• Togo sometimes regulates cereal exports to protect local food supply, so the export authorization is confirmed for each lot before we invoice.

We can send a sample of each form.

Photo: Michael Major for Crop Trust, Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (traditional fonio harvest in northern Benin, near the Togo border).