Can this plant save us from hunger?

It's barely rained in parts of Somalia for several years. That drought means farmers haven't been able to grow crops and raise animals for food and so people are getting hungrier and hungrier.

A big international effort to send emergency food is saving lives. But people around the world are also looking for ways to help communities avoid famine in the first place. The Indian state of Odisha has been working on a solution that could work in many parts of Asia and Africa.

Cereal superhero

The answer is... millet! It's a cereal that people have grown for thousands of years but it's been rather forgotten as people have preferred crops like wheat and rice. And yet, millet is a real superhero. It can stand extreme heat - up to 64 degrees! And it's not too bothered by droughts or flooding. Pretty handy for dealing with climate change.

Millet exists in many forms and in many countries under many names. In Odisha, they call it ragi. Some millets grow well without fertiliser, too.

In Odisha, the local government has given out millet seed and shown farmers how to grow it. The results have been good.

Year of millet

In Odisha, climate change has made it harder to be sure when the monsoon - the rainy season - will start. And if it doesn't start raining when farmers expect, the rice they have planted can die. But ragi is stronger. It doesn't need so much water. The farmers are pleased. Millet is packed with energy and nutrition. And it's delicious!

What's worked in Odisha may not work exactly like that in Somalia - although millet does grow in that part of Africa. But the experience of millet in Odisha shows what's possible when people put their minds to finding solutions for climate problems.

At the United Nations, where countries come together to help each other, they're excited. They've declared 2023 the International Year of Millet, to spread the word about this super cereal. Time to discover some recipes to try at home!