In Burkina Faso, millet has much more than just nutritional value. It embodies resilience and plays an essential role in many traditional practices.

Specialists often recommend millet flour-based porridges to restore the health of malnourished children, demonstrating its vital role in the well-being of the very young.

But millet’s role doesn’t stop there. It plays a central role in family meals and in some restaurants in Burkina Faso. At the “Chez MAM SANK” restaurant, promoter Mariam SANKARA concocts millet-based dishes such as “gnon” and “tô de petit mil”, which are a big hit with customers.

Traditionally, millet is associated with mystical attributes of protection and is present in virtually all spiritual events. “At funerals and other ceremonies, everything is submitted to the ancestors. And ‘zoom-koom’ (small millet juice) is used everywhere,” says Konomba TRAORÉ, Burkina Faso’s intangible heritage.

Millet has the ability to grow even on arid land, making it an ideal solution for countries that need to boost their food self-sufficiency. In view of all these positive aspects, the United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed 2023 as the International Year of Millet.

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