The experience with the rise in popularity of quinoa in international markets, and the specific lessons from the International Year of Quinoa (IYQ) in 2013, may have important lessons for our efforts for millets and IYM in 2023.

In an earlier post on this list, Joni mentioned potential synergisms with what has already happened with quinoa. What might these be? What should we know about IYQ as we plan for IYM in North America?

One obvious place to look is the website of FAO, which coordinated IYQ just as it is coordinating IYM. Their main page for IYQ is at https://www.fao.org/quinoa-2013/

There's quite a bit of material there, but of note is the short (4½ pp.) "Assessment of the International Year of Quinoa 2013" at https://www.fao.org/3/mk172E/mk172E.pdf . It noted

* a traveling exhibition, "From the Andes to the World," which visited 7 countries, including the US

* "tasting events" in a number of countries, including Canada and the US

* several conference or symposium events, including the following in North America (I've added dates  where I could find them, plus a URL about the Pullman event that has some info):

** Scientific technical meeting on food security and quinoa – New York (20 Feb 2013)

** International Quinoa Research Symposium – Pullman, Washington (12-14 Aug 2013; held by Washington State University & the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture) https://na.eventscloud.com/ehome/quinoa/ 

** III International Forum of Quinoa at La Mar – San Francisco

There does not appear to have been any particular initiative for quinoa in the region comparable to NAMA during IYQ, and it's not clear that there was any IYQ steering committee for any of the countries of the region.

Will follow with any additional info as appropriate, and of course, if anyone has more or different info, please let us know.

DO, EL, MI, US

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