Cameroon’s health ministry has dismissed a report of two suspected cases of Marburg virus in the country after a first deadly outbreak in neighboring Equatorial Guinea. Health officials along the border said Tuesday there were two suspected cases of the severe hemorrhagic fever in Cameroon after Malabo confirmed nine deaths and sixteen possible infections. Despite dismissing the reported cases, Cameroon’s health ministry says it is increasing surveillance and travel restrictions along the border.

Health Minister Manaouda Malachie says Cameroon does not yet have any suspected cases of the Marburg virus, despite reports of two possible infections.

Health officials in Cameroon’s South region on Tuesday said a teenage boy and girl suffering from high fever were rushed to a hospital Monday in Olamze, on the border with Equatorial Guinea.

The health officials said the children were suspected of being infected with the Marburg virus, are in isolation, and are responding to treatment.

But Malachie seemed to contradict those reports when he spoke Wednesday to state broadcaster Cameroon Radio Television.

Malachie says the decision by Cameroon to stop Marburg virus, an illness like Ebola, by restricting movement along the border with Equatorial Guinea is so far yielding fruit. He says as of Wednesday at midday central African time, Cameroon had not reported any deaths or suspected cases of Marburg virus.

Malachie says civilians should avoid contact with animals and people who have travelled to Equatorial Guinea and make sure people with fever, fatigue, and blood-stained vomit and diarrhea are isolated.

But Malachie warned its porous border with Equatorial Guinea, which confirmed Monday its first outbreak of the deadly virus, puts it at risk.

Cameroon last week said it restricted movement along the border after Equatorial Guinea quarantined hundreds of people in Kie-Ntem Province, where the hemorrhagic fever was first reported.

The World Health Organization says Equatorial Guinea sent samples to the Pasteur Institute in Senegal, after an alert by a health official on February 7, and one of them tested positive.

The WHO says Marburg was transmitted to people from fruit bats, spreads between people via bodily fluids, and has a fatality rate of up to 88%.

Marburg is in the same family as the Ebola virus but, unlike Ebola, there are no vaccines for Marburg — just treatments for the symptoms such as dehydration and fever.

Health officials from Cameroon and Gabon, which also shares borders with Equatorial Guinea, met Tuesday in Yaoundé and agreed to work together to prevent the virus from spreading.

University of Yaoundé sociology lecturer Francois Bingono Bingono was in the meeting.

He says the frequent movement of people across the borders will make stopping the virus a challenge.

Bingono says in 2020 Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea restricted movement along their border to protect their populations from COVID-19, but civilians on both sides did not respect the order. He says people living on both sides of the Cameroon-Equatorial Guinea border belong to the same ethnic groups, speak the same language, and celebrate happy events or mourn sad events together.

Bingono says health workers not known in border communities are struggling to educate locals that a deadly virus threatens their lives.

He says they will need traditional rulers to help convince their people.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the virus was first identified in 1967 in simultaneous outbreaks in laboratories in Marburg and Frankfurt, Germany, and in Belgrade.

Marburg is not new to Africa but is relatively new to West Africa.

An outbreak in Ghana in September last year killed two people, while Guinea recorded one death from the virus in 2021 — the first known case in West Africa.

The WHO reported previous outbreaks in Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, South Africa, and Uganda.
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Plumes of smoke, questions about dead animals, worries about the drinking water. A train derailment in Ohio and subsequent burning of some of the hazardous chemicals has people asking: How worried should they be? 

It’s been more than a week since about 50 cars of a freight train derailed in a fiery, mangled mess on the outskirts of East Palestine near the Pennsylvania state line, apparently because of a mechanical issue with a rail car axle. No one was injured in that wreck. But concerns about air quality and the hazardous chemicals on board the train prompted some village residents to leave, and officials later ordered the evacuation of the immediate area as fears grew about a potential explosion of smoldering wreckage. 

Officials seeking to avoid the danger of an uncontrolled blast chose to intentionally release and burn toxic vinyl chloride from five rail cars, sending flames and black smoke again billowing high into the sky. The jarring scene left people questioning the potential health impacts for residents in the area and beyond, even as authorities maintained they were doing their best to protect people. 

In the days since, residents’ concerns and questions have only abounded — amplified, in part, by misinformation spreading online. 

More on what we know: 

Controlled burn  

Vinyl chloride is associated with increased risk of certain cancers, and officials at the time warned burning it would release two concerning gases — hydrogen chloride and phosgene, the latter of which was used as a weapon in World War I. 

Environmental officials say that monitors detected toxins in the air at the site during the controlled burn and that officials kept people away until that dissipated. They say continuing air monitoring done for the railroad and by government agencies — including testing inside nearly 400 homes — hasn’t detected dangerous levels in the area since residents were allowed to return. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has shared air monitoring results online. 

Continuing concerns 

Even in communities beyond East Palestine, some residents say they worry about long-term effects of even low-grade exposure to contaminants from the site. The village has scheduled a town hall at the local high school Wednesday evening to hear questions from residents, whose concerns have included lingering smells, how to ensure accountability for the cleanup, and what to make of pets and livestock that have appeared ill or died since the derailment. 

The risk to such animals is low, according to the Ohio Department of Agriculture, which recommended that people contact a local veterinarian for any concerns about their livestock or pets’ health. The department hasn’t received any official reports about livestock or pet illnesses or deaths directly related to the incident, though making such a determination would require a necropsy and lab work, the Agriculture Department said. 

Ohio Health Department Director Bruce Vanderhoff cautioned at a news conference Tuesday that residents who were worried about lingering odors or headaches since the derailment should know that those can be triggered by contaminant levels in the air that are well below what’s unsafe. 

The derailment also highlighted questions about railroad safety, though federal data show accidents involving hazardous materials at this scale are very rare. Trains were rolling past East Palestine again soon after the evacuation order was lifted. 

Ground and water 

Contaminants from derailed cars spilled into some waterways and were toxic to fish, but officials have said drinking water in the area has remained protected. 

In addition to vinyl chloride, at least three other substances — butyl acrylate, ethylhexyl acrylate, and ethylene glycol monobutyl — were released into the air, soil or water, according to a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency letter putting rail operator Norfolk Southern on notice about its potential liability for cleanup costs. 

Norfolk Southern’s response has included efforts to remove spilled contaminants from the ground surface and nearby streams, as well as air quality monitoring, soil sampling and residential water well surveys, according to its preliminary remediation plan. 

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources estimates the spill affected more than 11.2 kilometers (7 miles) of streams and killed some 3,500 fish, mostly small ones such as minnows and darters. 

A plume of contaminants that includes butyl acrylate formed in the Ohio River in the first days after the derailment and on Tuesday was flowing slowly, nearing Huntington, West Virginia, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency officials said. 

The contaminant amounts found so far don’t pose a risk for cities that rely on the river for their drinking water, and the plume is continuing to be diluted as it moves farther along, the state EPA said. 

In response, some water companies have shut off their intakes or increased treatment processes as a precaution. 

Social media claims  

As with any developing situation, misinformation and hyperbole about the derailment have spread online in recent days. 

Social media users, for example, falsely claimed that drinking water is contaminated throughout the entire Ohio River basin, when many areas in the multistate region are not affected by the chemical release. 

Footage of dark, ominous clouds has also spread with claims it showed East Palestine post-burn, despite the fact that the footage appeared online as early as November 2022. 

As information continues to develop, disinformation experts emphasize that people should exercise caution before sharing unverified claims. 

Cause of accident 

Investigators examined the rail car that initiated the derailment and have surveillance video from a home showing “what appears to be a wheel bearing in the final stage of overheat failure moments before the derailment,” the National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday. Its preliminary report is expected in two weeks. 

Rail operator Norfolk Southern and the NTSB haven’t publicly answered one of the big questions about the February 3 derailment, however: Exactly when was the crew alerted to a mechanical issue with a rail car axle — the suspected cause — and did they respond appropriately? 

A wayside defect detector alerted the crew to a mechanical issue “shortly before the derailment,” and emergency braking was initiated, a National Transportation Safety Board member said that weekend. 

Security video from two businesses in Salem, Ohio, shows the underside of one rail car glowing brightly from an apparent fiery axle, indicating the train might have traveled more than 32.1 kilometers (20 miles) with that malfunction before the derailment, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. The NTSB says it’s reviewing that video. 

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said on Tuesday that Norfolk Southern had mismanaged the disaster from the outset and that its actions hampered the response from local and state agencies. He also said the company had been unwilling to look at alternatives to intentionally releasing and burning the five cars filled with vinyl chloride. 

“Prioritizing an accelerated and arbitrary timeline to reopen the rail line injected unnecessary risk and created confusion,” Shapiro said in a letter to Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw. A message seeking comment was left with the company. 
…

Health rights campaigners in Malawi are welcoming a national campaign against a record cholera outbreak, which has affected all 29 districts in the country and killed nearly 1,400 people.

President Lazarus Chakwera launched the campaign Monday, pledging to reduce the transmission and mortality rate of the water-borne illness. Chakwera said the spread is largely because people in the country are not following good hygiene practices.

“And because the behavior is not changing, the situation has become dire,” he said. “So far, over 1,300 funerals have happened around the country because of cholera. And the disease is still spreading at an alarming rate. We are getting between 500 to 600 cholera cases every day in our health facilities throughout the country.”

The campaign, known as “Tithetse Kolera” or “Let’s end cholera,” focuses on repairing water kiosks across the country and helping people construct toilets in their homes.

Chakwera said statistics show that about 40 percent of Malawians do not have toilets and instead use the bush to relieve themselves.

Several organizations in Malawi have long been running campaigns against the practice of open defecation, but with little result.

“We are human beings with dignity, not animals that can just use any place as a toilet. If any place is not a toilet, don’t treat it as a toilet,” Chakwera said. “And a toilet is not something that is given to you by the government or something that is donated from abroad or something that comes down from heaven. It is something you give yourself as a human being because you respect yourself better than an animal.”

Health authorities say they hope the campaign will help reduce the cholera fatality rate from the current 3.6% to 1%.

Health rights campaigner George Jobe welcomed the campaign, but said the government should go further by ending myths and misinformation associated with the outbreak.

Jobe, who is also executive director for the Malawi Health Equity Network, cited two recent incidents in Lilongwe and Balaka districts, where angry members of the community assaulted medical workers and vandalized two public health facilities, forcing them to close. The community members accused the medical workers of deliberately infecting patients with cholera-infested vaccines.

“The current cholera seems to be different from previous outbreaks of cholera just because the current one was preceded by COVID-19. So, we shall continue to provide some piece of advice to the government that when we are doing awareness raising, we must be mindful that we are also fighting with reductions of COVID-19,” Jobe said.

Chakwera ordered the reopening of the closed health facilities and assured the health workers that they would receive maximum security.

In the meantime, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and United Nations have pledged their support toward the success of the cholera campaign.

“The United Nations is currently in the process of preparing a multisector cholera appeal to increase the capacity of the U.N. and NGOs to support the government of Malawi. It will be launched next week,” said Rebecca Donto, the United Nations’ resident coordinator in Malawi.

Local media have reported that Malawi needs an additional $40 million for an effective cholera response. 
…

Equatorial Guinea announced its first outbreak of the Marburg virus, a highly infectious disease similar to Ebola, the World Health Organization said in a statement Monday. 

The small central African nation of about 1.6 million people reported nine deaths and 16 more suspected cases after a sample sent to a laboratory in Senegal on February 7 came back positive. 

Health Minister Mitoha Ondo’o Ayekaba told reporters that a health alert had been declared in Kie-Ntem province and the neighboring district of Mongomo, after consulting with the World Health Organization and the United Nations, Agence France-Presse reported.

The nine deaths occurred between January 7 and February 7, Ayekaba said.

The Marburg virus has a fatality rate of up to 88% and spreads from person to person through direct contact with bodily fluids, WHO said. The disease comes from the same family of viruses as Ebola. Symptoms consist of high fever and severe headache, with many patients developing hemorrhagic symptoms within seven days.

WHO said officials have been deployed in Equatorial Guinea to “trace contacts, isolate and provide medical care to people showing symptoms of the disease.”

“Marburg is highly infectious. Thanks to the rapid and decisive action by the Equatorial Guinean authorities in confirming the disease, emergency response can get to full steam quickly so that we save lives and halt the virus as soon as possible,” said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO regional director for Africa.

WHO said there are currently no vaccines or antiviral treatments for the virus. However, oral rehydration therapy and treatment of certain symptoms can improve chances of survival, it added.

Some material for this report came from The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse. 
…

The Biden administration says it’s working with the governments of Mexico, Colombia and Ecuador to combat a documented rise in the availability and lethality of illegal drugs containing fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that can be up to 100 times stronger than morphine.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, the potency of pills is rising — in 2022, six out of 10 pills contained a potentially lethal dose of the narcotic.

President Joe Biden mentioned the deadly drug in his recent State of the Union address, in which he spoke of “a record number of personnel working to secure the border, arresting 8,000 human smugglers, seizing over 23,000 pounds of fentanyl in just the last several months.”

And Biden outlined his administration’s plan to tackle the epidemic in different ways, including funding screening measures, checking packages and “expanding access to evidence-based prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery.”

VOA’s Jorge Agobian spoke to Dr. Rahul Gupta, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, to find out how the U.S. is battling the overdose epidemic both inside and beyond its borders.

“The problem of fentanyl and synthetic drugs is not limited exclusively to the United States or Mexico,” Gupta said. “It’s a global problem. And secondly, the supply chain is also global. So whether it’s precursor chemicals that are converted into fentanyl, coming from China into Mexico or North America, or the synthesis of these drugs, we need to be making sure that we’re monitoring all of it, and we’re addressing specific choke points in this supply chain.”

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

VOA: A key component of President Biden’s State of the Union address was the fentanyl crisis. What next steps will the administration take on this issue?

Dr. Rahul Gupta: Fentanyl is killing 70,000 Americans a year overall as part of the overdose crisis. It is a top priority for President Biden to address that. It’s important for us to make sure we have an education campaign, especially for children, to be aware and understand that they have the power to not only be aware about this deadly threat, but also maybe carry Naloxone, the antidote for it so they can help their friends and others.

Also, what we can do is to ensure that we have the treatment available to everybody who needs it. We know that far too many Americans today aren’t able to get the treatment. So along with the antidote, we’ve got to get more people into treatment, and he talked about how he had challenged Congress the year before about removing barriers to doctors to prescribing, and he worked in a bipartisan manner with both sides of Congress to get that to happen. And he signed that into law.

He also talked about how there’s controlling of the fentanyl-related substances already, but it’s temporary we need to make that permanent.

President Biden highlighted how we have through the highest levels of fentanyl seizures at the border — twice as much as 2020 and four times as much in 2019. Why? Because we’ve implemented technology to be able to detect more, but the problem doesn’t begin or end at the border. We have to work with Mexico.

VOA: What in this strategy is the role of Mexico cooperating with the United States? And how much does the United States rely on Mexico to prosecute?

Gupta: People in Mexico are dying from overdoses and poisoning from fentanyl just like in America. So it’s very important that we work with a shared sense of responsibility, to make sure that we’re working to secure our country to make sure that we’re going after the bad guys who are intending harming Americans as well as Mexicans at the same time, we’re working on enhancing public health treatment, and the antidote Naloxone or Narcan and make it available to anyone who needs it.

We have made sure that we’re providing as much assistance to Mexico in partnership as a key player in helping us, but we also want to make sure that we’re holding traffickers, manufacturers and others accountable for their actions by preying on vulnerable people. It’s important because we want to make sure that they’re not making profits off the back of unsuspecting people who are dying and being poisoned. So it’s important whether it is in the United States or across the border, that our governments hold bad actors accountable in a forceful way.

VOA: Does the White House believe that the war on drugs is ‘a failed campaign,’ as the president of Colombia has called it?

Gupta: When President (Gustavo) Petro was inaugurated in Colombia early last year, I went, as the first delegation from the United States. We had a long and good conversation, and I said to him, “Look, we recognize that not all policies have been proven to be successful of the United States. But the important part is that we have a problem where an American is dying every 5 minutes around the clock. You have a problem where the economy is dependent, a lot, on cocaine production. We need to work with our 200-year relationship productively to see how we can secure a future both for the American people and the Colombian people.’”

And we need to see the way forward which is humane, which is protective of the environment.

And we need to figure out how to get people gainful employment, give hope, and the ability to have economic development as a way to address this. And that’s exactly some of the things that we’re going to be working with countries like Colombia.

VOA: What about the other countries in the Western Hemisphere?

Gupta: We know that these profits and the drugs don’t only kill Americans, but the profits go back to cause more destabilization, more crime and corruption and violence. It’s very important for us as a global leader to continue to work as good partners with other countries across Latin America. And there’s a history of us working with them, but to make sure that we’re doing in a way that yields us results, mutual respect and mutual cooperation. So we can hold the bad actors accountable, while ensuring that people everywhere have a chance to live safely, securely and healthy.

VOA: And finally, what about Venezuela? There is no cooperation between the two governments, of course, but Venezuela is still a key player in all these industries.

Gupta: We’re going to continue to focus with our partners in Colombia, and as well as Ecuador, to make sure that people there are getting the support when it comes to both the people coming in from Venezuela as well as resources. And then that work will continue, you know, as far as so I don’t have anything new to report on that at this point, from a policy perspective.

Anita Powell contributed to this report.

FOR HELP:

The World Health Organization says there are three common signs and symptoms of an overdose: pinpoint pupils, unconsciousness and difficulties with breathing.

Learn more about overdoses in the WHO’s fact sheet.

For the unfamiliar, fentanyl goes by several nicknames. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration lists several commonly used in the U.S.: Apache, China Girl, China Town, Dance Fever, Friend, Goodfellas, Great Bear, He-Man, Jackpot, King Ivory, Murder 8, and Tango & Cash.

Check the DEA’s website for details.
…

An uncrewed Russian supply ship docked at the International Space Station has lost cabin pressure, the Russian space corporation reported Saturday, saying the incident doesn’t pose any danger to the station’s crew.

Roscosmos said the hatch between the station and the Progress MS-21 had been locked so the loss of pressure didn’t affect the orbiting outpost.

“The temperature and pressure on board the station are within norms and there is no danger to health and safety of the crew,” it said in a statement.

The space corporation didn’t say what may have caused the cargo ship to lose pressure.

Roscosmos noted that the cargo ship had already been loaded with waste before its scheduled disposal. The craft is set to be undocked from the station and deorbit to burn in the atmosphere Feb. 18.

The announcement came shortly after a new Russian cargo ship docked smoothly at the station Saturday. The Progress MS-22 delivered almost 3 tons of food, water and fuel along with scientific equipment for the crew.

Roscosmos said that the loss of pressure in the Progress MS-21 didn’t affect the docking of the new cargo ship and “will have no impact on the future station program.”

The depressurization of the cargo craft follows an incident in December with the Soyuz crew capsule, which was hit by a tiny meteoroid that left a small hole in the exterior radiator and sent coolant spewing into space.

Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin, and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio were supposed to use the capsule to return to Earth in March, but Russian space officials decided that higher temperatures resulting from the coolant leak could make it dangerous to use.

They decided to launch a new Soyuz capsule February 20 so the crew would have a lifeboat in the event of an emergency. But since it will travel in automatic mode to expedite the launch, a replacement crew will now have to wait until late summer or fall when another capsule is ready. It means that Prokopyev, Petelin and Rubio will have to stay several extra months at the station, possibly pushing their mission to close to a year.

NASA took part in all the discussions and agreed with the plan.

Besides Prokopyev, Petelin and Rubio, the space station is home to NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, Russian Anna Kikina, and Japan’s Koichi Wakata. The four rode up on a SpaceX capsule last October.
…

On the packed streets of Nairobi, Cyrus Kariuki is one of a growing number of bikers zooming through traffic on an electric motorbike, reaping the benefits of cheaper transport, cleaner air and limiting planet-warming emissions in the process.

“Each month one doesn’t have to be burdened by oil change, engine checks and other costly maintenance costs,” Kariuki said.

Electric motorcycles are gaining traction in Kenya as private sector-led firms rush to set up charging points and battery-swapping stations to speed up the growth of cleaner transport and put the east African nation on a path toward fresher air and lower emissions.

But startups say more public support and better government schemes can help further propel the industry.

Ampersand, an African-based electric mobility company, began its Kenyan operations in May 2022. The business currently operates seven battery-swapping stations spread across the country’s capital and has so far attracted 60 customers. Ian Mbote, the startup’s automotive engineer and expansion lead, says uptake has been relatively slow.

“We need friendly policies, taxes, regulations and incentives that would boost the entry into the market,” said Mbote, adding that favorable government tariffs in Rwanda accelerated its electric transport growth. Ampersand plans to sell 500 more electric motorbikes by the end of the year.

Companies say the savings of switching to electric and using a battery-swap system, rather than charging for several hours, are key selling points for customers.

“Our batteries cost $1.48 to swap a full battery which gives one mobility of about 90 to 110 kilometers (56 to 68 miles) as compared to the $1.44 of fuel that only guarantees a 30 to 40 kilometer ride (19 to 25 miles) on a motorcycle,” Mbote said.

Kim Chepkoit, the founder of electric motorbike-making company Ecobodaa Mobility, added that “electricity costs are going to be more predictable and cushioned from the fluctuation of the fuel prices.”

Ecobodaa’s flagship product is a motorcycle with two batteries, making it capable of covering 160 kilometers (100 miles) on one battery charge. The motorcycle costs 185,000 shillings ($1,400) without the battery, about the same as a conventional motorbike.

Other cleaner transport initiatives in the country include the Sustainable Energy for Africa program which runs a hub for 30 solar-powered charging stations for electric vehicles and battery-swapping in Kenya’s western region.

Electric mobility has a promising future in the continent but “requires infrastructural, societal and political systemic changes that neither happen overnight nor will be immune to hesitance,” said Carol Mungo, a research fellow at the Stockholm Environment Institute.

The move to electric transport “will require African governments to rethink how they deliver current services such as reliable and affordable electricity” and at the same time put in place adequate measures to address electric waste and disposal, Mungo added.

Some financial incentives are on the way.

Earlier in February the African Development Bank announced that it will provide $1 million in grants for technical assistance in Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and South Africa.

The African continent records a million premature deaths annually from air pollution, according to a soon-to-be-released study by the U.N. environment agency, Stockholm Environment Institute and the African Union obtained by The Associated Press.

Studies by the Climate and Clean Air Coalition say a reduction of short-lived climate pollutants can cut the amount of warming by as “much as 0.6 degrees Celsius (1.1 degrees Fahrenheit), while avoiding 2.4 million premature deaths globally from annual outdoor air pollution.”

But Mungo warned that cleaning up transport is just one step toward better air quality.

“There are so many emission factors in cities,” she said. “E-mobility, however, looks broadly beyond the transport sector to infrastructure development and urban planning, which in the end can solve complex pollution issues on in Africa.”

 
…

While others in her Zimbabwean village agonize over a maize crop seemingly headed for failure, Jestina Nyamukunguvengu picks up a hoe and slices through the soil of her fields that are lush green with a pearl millet crop in the African country’s arid Rushinga district.

“These crops don’t get affected by drought, they are quick to flower, and that’s the only way we can beat the drought,” the 59-year old said, smiling broadly. Millets, including sorghum, now take up over two hectares of her land — a patch where maize was once the crop of choice.

Farmers like Nyamukunguvengu in the developing world are on the front lines of a project proposed by India that has led the U.N.’s Food and Agricultural Organization to christen 2023 as “The Year of Millets,” an effort to revive a hardy and healthy crop that has been cultivated for millennia — but was largely elbowed aside by European colonists who favored corn, wheat and other grains.

The designation is timely: Last year, drought swept across much of eastern Africa; war between Russia and Ukraine upended supplies and raised the prices of foodstuffs and fertilizer from Europe’s breadbasket; worries surged about environmental fallout of cross-globe shipments of farm products; many chefs and consumers are looking to diversify diets at a time of excessively standardized fare.

All that has given a new impetus to locally-grown and alternative grains and other staples like millets.

Millets come in multiple varieties, such as finger millet, fonio, sorghum, and teff, which is used in the spongy injera bread familiar to fans of Ethiopian cuisine. Proponents tout millets for their healthiness — they can be rich in proteins, potassium, and vitamin B — and most varieties are gluten-free. And they’re versatile: useful in everything from bread, cereal and couscous to pudding and even beer.

Over centuries, millets have been cultivated around the world — in places like Japan, Europe, the Americas and Australia — but their epicenters have traditionally been India, China, and sub-Saharan Africa, said Fen Beed, team leader at FAO for rural and urban crop and mechanization systems.

Many countries realized they “should go back and look at what’s indigenous to their agricultural heritage and what could be revisited as a potential substitute for what would otherwise be imported — which is at risk when we had the likes of pandemic, or when we have the likes of conflict,” said Beed.

Millets are more tolerant of poor soils, drought and harsh growing conditions, and can easily adapt to different environments without high levels of fertilizer and pesticide. They don’t need nearly as much water as other grains, making them ideal for places like Africa’s arid Sahel region, and their deep roots of varieties like fonio can help mitigate desertification, the process that transforms fertile soil into desert, often because of drought or deforestation.

“Fonio is nicknamed the Lazy Farmers crop. That’s how easy it is to grow,” says Pierre Thiam, executive chef and co-founder of New York-based fine-casual food chain Teranga, which features West African cuisine. “When the first rain comes, the farmers only have to go out and just like throw the seeds of fonio … They barely till the soil.”

“And it’s a fast growing crop, too: It can mature in two months,” he said, acknowledging it’s not all easy: “Processing fonio is very difficult. You have to remove the skin before it becomes edible.”

Millets account for less than 3% of the global grain trade, according to FAO. But cultivation is growing in some arid zones. In Rushinga district, land under millets almost tripled over the past decade. The U.N.’s World Food Programme deployed dozens of threshing machines and gave seed packs and training to 63,000 small-scale farmers in drought-prone areas in the previous season.

Low rainfall and high temperatures in recent years in part due to climate change, coupled with poor soils, have doused interest in water-guzzling maize.

“You’ll find the ones who grew maize are the ones who are seeking food assistance, those who have grown sorghum or pearl millet are still eating their small grains,” said Melody Tsoriyo, the district’s agronomist, alluding to small grains like millets, whose seeds can be as fine as sand. “We anticipate that in five years to come, small grains will overtake maize.”

Government teams in Zimbabwe have fanned out to remote rural regions, inspecting crops and providing expert assistance such as through WhatsApp groups to spread technical knowledge to farmers.

WFP spokesman Tatenda Macheka said millets “are helping us reduce food insecurity” in Zimbabwe, where about a quarter of people in the country of 15 million — long a breadbasket of southern Africa — are now food insecure, meaning that they’re not sure where their next meal will come from.

In urban areas of Zimbabwe and well beyond, restaurants and hotels are riding the newfound impression that a millet meal offers a tinge of class, and have made it pricier fare on their menus.

Thiam, the U.S.-based chef, recalled eating fonio as a kid in Senegal’s southern Casamance region, but fretted that it wasn’t often available in his hometown — the capital — let alone New York. He admitted once “naively” having dreams making what’s known in rural Senegal as “the grain of royalty” — served to honor visiting guests — into a “world class crop.”

He’s pared back those ambitions a bit, but still sees a future for the small grains.

“It’s really amazing that you can have a grain like this that’s been ignored for so long,” Thiam said in an interview from his home in El Cerrito, Calif., where he moved to be close to his wife and her family. “It’s about time that we integrate it into our diet.”
…