1 Acha (Digitaria spp.) a “Rediscovered ” Indigenous Crop of West Africa

Abstract

There are over 300 Digitaria species of acha, which are sometimes grown as fodder. Only three or four are sometimes grown as cereals (CIRAD, 2004). In West Africa the common species cultivated are Digitaria exilis or fonio, white fonio, fundi of findi, acha, hungry rice and Digitaria iburua or black fonio, iburu etc. Acha (Digitaira spp), considered as one of the lost crops of Africa, remains an important food crop for millions of people in West Africa. The intimidating challenge today is to produce enough acha to meet the growing demands for its products. This paper considers acha as a once “lost crop of Africa ” whose potentials of providing enough food for the increasing population of poor people in the Continent cannot be ignored.