Read the original news in Le Sahel (in french)
The 2nd edition of the International Millet Festival will take place on March 3, 2020 at the Academy of Martial Arts (ACAM) in Niamey with the theme: “Promotion of the consumption of products processed from millet”. After the resounding success recorded by the 1st edition held in February 2019, the organizers of FESTIMIL intend to repeat the feat and even go further in promoting this first food source in Niger.
Organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, in partnership with the Tattali Iyali Foundation of the First Lady Dr Lalla Malika Issoufou; the Ministry of Cultural Renaissance, the High Commission for the 3N Initiative, the National Institute for Agronomic Research of Niger (INRAN) and the International Research Institute for Crops of Semi-Arid Tropical Areas (ICRISAT), FESTIMIL is a framework for promoting the production, processing and consumption of millet.
This Festival is an extension of the “Nigerian Consumption” campaign sponsored by the First Lady Dr Lalla Malika Issoufou. FESTIMIL is first of all a gastronomic, culinary and cultural festival around the culture of millet. It is also and above all a framework for exchanges around the millet value chain.
Thus, during this 2nd edition, meetings are planned between professionals in production, marketing, processing, nutrition and gastronomy and the general public. Demonstrations, culinary workshops, contests, debates, tastings, panels led by eminent researchers and millet processing professionals are also on the agenda with VIP guests expected from the Sahel countries, the Africa and the world.
FESTIMIL is also part of the logic of achieving the “zero hunger ” objective by 2021 as stipulated by the 3N Initiative, one of the priority axes of the Renaissance Act II Program initiated by the President Issoufou Mahamadou. In fact, it is planned in this context to increase millet production from 5.5 million tonnes and 2015 to 8 million tonnes by 2021.
According to specialists, millet is a crop with multiple benefits including food, economic and even cultural. It is also a climate-smart culture adapted to the Sahelian environment because of its tolerance to high temperatures and its low water requirements. Because of the richness of certain varieties of iron and zinc, the consumption of millet can constitute a less expensive source to improve the nutritional state of the populations by ensuring them a healthy, balanced and intelligent nutrition. It is this “Smart Food ” side of millet that FESTIMIL intends to promote with the support and total commitment of the president of the Tattali Iyali Foundation Dr Lalla Malika Issoufou.
