During the Millets Webinar this past Thursday, Zachary Louk mentioned a connection he had had with Malawi and Zambia, which resulted in some foxtail millet being tried in these countries. This reminded me of a longer term and more concerted effort to develop foxtail millet as a crop in Uganda. Some article and webpage titles and links, along with brief comments, are below. First, for those not familiar, foxtail millet (Setaria italica) was domesticated millenia ago in what is now China, and its cultivation spread west across Eurasia and south to South Asia in ancient times. It hasn't been grown as a crop until recently (apart possibly in North Africa?). Interesting that pearl millet, sorghum, and finger millet spread east out of Africa as far as China and beyond, but foxtail and proso millets only recently completed their journey to Africa (altho there was record of some proso cultivation for a period in the past in Sudan). Articles & webpages (text after * are my comments). Foxtail, aka "Chinese millet," seems to have been introduced by Ugandan initiative in 2010, and then incorporated into a larger effort with China and FAO. "Chinese millet storms Uganda," by Christopher Bendana, Africa-China Reporting Project, 25 January 2018 (originally published in the Ugandan paper, New Vision, in 2017) https://africachinareporting.com/chinese-millet-storms-uganda/ * Article discusses the introduction of foxtail by a former Ugandan agricultural minister in 2010, and subsequent work to evaluate it and make it available to farmers Also mentioned are local reception and possible impact on traditionally cultivated millets. The latter comparisons, however, seem to be between improved varieties of foxtail, and landrace varieties of traditional millets (more info would be helpful) Two articles in 2013, both behind paywalls, discussed the early stages of introducing foxtail in Uganda: - "Introducing foxtail millet in Uganda," Monitor, 16 July 2013 https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/magazines/farming/introducing-foxtail-mille... - "Food Security - Uganda Looks to Chinese Millet," The Observer (Kampala) via AllAfrica.com, 21 July 2013 https://allafrica.com/stories/201307220777.html "FAO-China South-South Cooperation Project in Uganda Foxtail and Proso millet production to improve food and nutrition security," (No date; originally accessed in 2023), Food and Agriculture Organizations of the United Nations (FAO) (United Nations / Multilateral body) https://sdgs.un.org/partnerships/fao-china-south-south-cooperation-project-u... * General description of the FAO-SSC Project in Uganda An FAO digital media page on the SSC project, dated 10.29.24: https://digital-media.fao.org/archive/UGANDA-2024--FAO-China-Uganda-South-So... Post by MAAIF Uganda (Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries at Government of Uganda) on LinkedIn, apparently in mid-2024,: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/maaif-uganda_sscuganda-activity-7209101307784... * Recapitulates some of the FAO SSC info discussed in above links "Uganda boosts food security through South-South cooperation with China, FAO," Xinhua (News.cn), 2024-10-16 https://english.news.cn/20241016/84b8bd0be73d4279873d5315f8b95a4b/c.html * This gives updates on the FAO SSC, now evidently in its third phase. Mentions high-yielding varieties of foxtail millet and hybrid rice. This effort seems to be spreading, as another article on Kenya indicates: "Early maturing, high yielding and climate-smart Chinese millet enters Kenya," Farmers Review Africa, 11 Aug. 2023 https://farmersreviewafrica.com/early-maturing-high-yielding-and-climate-sma... This is actually history in the making. One might compare the spread of teff in the US in the last 40 years or so - primarily as a forage and hay crop, but also for food. Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US - +1 202-621-3911) North American Millets Alliance