Securing the Future of Millets

Global South Millet Convening Charts Action Plan Beyond IYM2023

Agricultural leaders, policymakers, and high-level representatives from the international south gathered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from 25-26 March 2024, to chart a course for collective motion past the International Year of Millets 2023 (IYM2023).

Millets, hailed for his or her local weather resilience and dietary density, have garnered international recognition as a vital part in the struggle towards meals insecurity and environmental degradation, offering hope to the 2.1 billion individuals who stay in the arid areas of Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.

High-level representatives from main millet-producing nations in the international south together with India, Mali, Nigeria, Niger, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, and Malawi, alongside outstanding organizations resembling the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA), and the Indian Institute of Millets Research (IIMR), got here collectively to plan methods for strengthened collaboration underneath a shared imaginative and prescient of resilience for the drylands.

Director General of ICRISAT, Dr Jacqueline d’Arros Hughes, mentioned the elevated degree of illustration and engagement from all contributors throughout the two-day session augurs nicely for the future of millets.

“It is essential that we construct on the momentum and legacy of the IYM2023 to make sure the world has entry to millets, that are Smart Food with the capability to feed and nourish the planet amid rising international populations, growing temperatures and climatic occasions,” Dr Hughes remarked.

“I thank all stakeholders who made the effort to attend and actively take part in these two intensive days of strategic planning, data sharing and deliberations. Together, we’ve got laid the groundwork for sustained progress in millet promotion and adoption in the international south,” she added.

Key outcomes of the assembly included the growth of plans for establishing Centers of Excellence on Millets in main millet-producing nations. Centers are envisioned to function hubs for innovation, analysis, and data trade, driving sustainable crop manufacturing, resilient worth chains, and broader client entry to inexpensive and nutritious millet-based diets.

The convening additionally served as a platform to reaffirm a shared dedication to attaining the Sustainable Development Goals in the international south, notably by supporting meals safety, poverty eradication, and environmental sustainability.