As the changing climate places new stressors on agricultural production, novel and adaptive management practices that provide resistance or resilience are needed to overcome these challenges. Increased biodiversity can improve resilience and ecosystem function, allowing agroecosystems to continue production after temporal or extreme climate events. One way to increase both local and regional diversity is by broadening the number of crops produced. Minor crops which suffer from lack of formalized research and are grown for cultural value or local adaptations, may fill niches in agroecosystems outside their traditional production systems. One of these minor crops is a small grain from West Africa called fonio (Digitaria exilis). Fonio is extremely valuable in West Africa for food security, nutrition, and cultural practices, but its value has not yet been recognized globally. Increasing our understanding of this crop may provide a pathway for improving fonio for its native habitat and new environments. While there are ample uses of fonio and opportunities to improve production, there is limited research on fonio in most disciplines. This research sought to fill knowledge gaps and inform future research on fonio through two studies: a scoping review and a field study. A scoping literature review was completed where research across disciplines was summarized and analyzed for gaps in knowledge. The review found novel uses for fonio including building materials, pharmaceutical uses, industrial uses, and feed for animals. Further use of fonio is limited by knowledge gaps in the optimization of management for different environments, mechanization for production and processing, and a lack of breeding efforts. To better understand the production and uses of fonio more documentation is needed in field management, economics, seed systems, and producer/consumer preferences. A major gap identified was the viability of fonio outside its native habitat and the effect of fertilizer and seeding rate on fonio growth and forage quality. A two-year (2021-22) field study conducted in Western Michigan tested fonio production in a new environment, assessed forage quality, and determined the effect of seeding and fertilizer rate on biomass and grain yields. Results indicated that low planting densities (4 kg/ha) improved grain yields but reduced biomass. Fertilization greater than 19.5 kg N/ha increased biomass but had no effect on grain yield. Grown in Michigan, fonio forage quality was high (RFQ=131-150) when cut at booting stage but biomass yield was low compared to other summer annuals. From these studies, we determined that fonio may be a useful crop in the US as a forage or cover crop, filling a niche in perennial pastures during dry summer months. More research is needed to further understand fonio management and global uses while ensuring West African producers maintain sovereignty as the crop stewards of fonio.
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