About Fonio
Fonio is a tiny gluten-free ancient grain that has been grown across the West African Sahel for thousands of years. It can be used like any other grain, in hundreds of applications.
Functional & Nutritional Benefits
✓ Gluten Free
✓ Vegan
✓ Good source of:
B Vitamins, iron, copper, zinc, magnesium
Sensorial
✓ Beige/tan colored grain
✓ Off-white flour
✓ Inherent Sweetness
✓ Mild, slightly nutty flavor and aroma
✓ Flour is fine and unbleached
Applications
Bakery Products
Brewing
Snacks and cereals
Nutritional bars
Chocolate Bars
Plant-based milk
Fonio grows quickly in arid climates without the need for irrigation, and it reaches maturity even in poor soils, and even without tilling. Women in subsistence farming communities in the Sahel know that if they plant fonio at the beginning of the annual rains, they will be able to feed their families at a time when they’ve run out of stored foods from the previous year’s harvest.
The Sahel is an arid region between the Sahara desert and Africa’s tropical forests.
Fonio-growing countries
Great Green Wall
Fonio is grown along The Great Green Wall, an international effort to contain the desert's expansion by planting in the area's sandy soils.
Tradition, before Yolele’s processing innovation
Fonio is easy to grow, but it is hard to turn it into food. Each tiny seed comes off the plant covered by an inedible husk.
Removing that husk and cleaning the fonio is challenging, to say the least.
Yolélé has introduced advanced industrial technology to the fonio value chain, making it commercially viable for the first time.