In Autumn 2022, Science and Solutions for a Changing Planet Doctoral Training Partnership Research Postgraduate George Burton carried out five weeks of fieldwork in West Africa. George travelled over 300km across the Fouta Djallon highlands in Guinea, working with farmers to understand the importance and traits of different varieties of fonio, a millet crop grown in the region, assessing how cultivation has changed in living memory and collecting samples for future research.
Here he shares the importance of this research and a day in the life of fieldwork in Guinea.
Why is fonio so important to farmers in this region?
In the Fouta Djallon there is a long tradition of fonio for subsistence, and it has an important role not only in providing a staple crop to rural communities, but also in religious and social ceremonies such as weddings and funerals. Fonio in the Fouta is a highly prioritised staple food. Its taste and nutrition are favoured over both native and introduced Asian rice, and there are many food preparations (some similar to cous-cous and bread, or even porridge) which are specific to fonio and treasured by local communities.
For these reasons, we wanted to interview farmers and members of the community to learn more about their perspectives, knowledge and experience using this crop.
What is so special about fonio? What makes it interesting to research?
Fonio from Guinea (particularly the Fouta) maintains very high levels of genetic diversity and unique alleles, suggesting a long and complex history of trade and cultivation. Fonio is incredibly versatile: it will grow in both lowland water-logged fields, and elevated steep stony outcrops with thin dry soils. By cultivating two or three (or sometimes up to six!) specific varieties of fonio in a single field or village, you can be sure that there is resilience against sudden climatic shifts. With different growth times (early varieties 2-3 months, late varieties 5-6 months), you ensure any crop loss or pressure periods are covered. This adaptability can be rare in more commercialised and improved major crops such as Asian rice or maize.
Tell us about a typical day during your fieldwork
Load up the car and hit the road (7-9am)
After a light breakfast, we set out to a new village to interview farmers and collect samples. We worked with farmers in the Fouta Djallon, which is home to the Fula (Pular, Fulani) people. It is a set of mountain ranges down the middle of Guinea containing the national highway between Sierra Leone and Cote d’Ivoire in the south, and Senegal and Mali to the north. It is an ecologically rich area, holding the headwaters for the rivers Gambie and Senegal and many endemic flora and fauna.
Though some communities can be remote and difficult to reach, we were lucky to travel with ecologists from Guinee-Ecologie and the Herbier National de Guinee (HNG) to guide us across hundreds of kilometres of highlands. They have a strong knowledge of the area and stopped us from getting too lost!
Check-in with officials (9-10am)
At each village or town we entered, we checked-in with local officials and leaders who were able to contact communities best placed to work with and make sure someone was available to help us at the other end.
Farmer interviews (10am-2pm)
The interviews with farmers and other members of the community took the form of group sessions, usually between 5 to 20 people. With help from interpreters, we asked a pre-set list of questions about the different varieties of fonio grown, which ones were preferred, and other crops grown in the area. This led to long and incredibly useful discussions between all members of the community, including men, women, children and elders, about local farming traditions and trends.
Lunch (2-3pm)
Some villages asked us to join for lunches of stews and rice or fonio, or we bought snacks like fried sweet potatoes or rice sugar balls from street vendors.
Field collections (3-5pm)
Farmers from the interviews brought us to their fields to document and collect the fonio varieties they had described. From this we were able to make herbarium plant specimens and seed collections, for use both by the HNG and at RBG Kew, for genetic and morphological analysis.
Drive home (5-7pm)
The long ride home, usually with lots of music.
Prepare specimens (7-8pm)
Plant specimens and seeds must be carefully dried and catalogued, using electric heaters tied up to a tarpaulin. This prevents specimens degrading and ruining DNA and useful morphological features, and also prevents mould. It did also mean that my bedroom was sometimes very stuffy and dry after dinner!
Dinner (8-10pm)
Usually a hearty stew (meat, cabbage, manioc) with a side of fonio or rice. My notable favourite was a spicy peanut stew with goat and chillies!
What are your reflections on five weeks in the field?
Landing back at Heathrow in the cold UK autumn, I immediately missed being in the field. Trying to get a taxi from the airport back to the Kew herbarium to deposit specimens and kit, and then taking the tube back to my flat, I quickly forgot about the hours spent on bumpy roads, the broken car engines, suspect accommodation, severe disregard for dietary requirements, extended periods without electricity and/or hot water, and time at admin offices trying to secure permits and sign documents. When I see fonio being sold in London at £5.99 for a small bag in health food shops, or open my computer forcing myself to start analysing genetic data, I remember the time with my friends and local farmers in fonio fields for hours a day in the sunny Fouta Djallon highlands. I feel incredibly lucky to have had such an incredible experience, and to be contributing to valuable research that will guide how we tackle challenges to food security and nutrition poverty for the future.
The results of this trip have recently been published in Plants, People, Planet as part of a special issue on Forgotten Crops (Burton et al. 2024). It was also presented as part of the 6th webinar of the FAO IYM23 series, and as a Kew Science blog.
The specimens and data collected have led to germination trials at the Millenium Seed Bank (Wakehurst) to establish temperature and drought thresholds, growing a full diversity panel to maturity, work with DNA phylogenetics and RNA gene expression analysis to determine the domestication history and climate resilience of fonio, and with NIAB for future crop transformations.
This fieldwork was developed with Dr Phillipa Ryan as part of the AgriHIST project at RBG Kew, partnered with the Herbier National de Guinee (HNG) and the NGO Guinee-Ecologie.
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