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Project

Scaling Up Small Millet Post-Harvest and Nutritious Food Products (CIFSRF Phase 2)
 

India
Project ID
108128
Total Funding
CAD 1,463,389.00
IDRC Officer
Annie Wesley
Project Status
Completed
End Date
Duration
27 months

Programs and partnerships

Agriculture and Food Security

Lead institution(s)

Project leader:
Karthikeyan Muniappan
India

Project leader:
Vijaya Raghavan
Canada

Summary

Small millets have superior nutritional qualities and climate resilience, but small millet production and consumption in many South Asian countries, such as India, remains low.Read more

Small millets have superior nutritional qualities and climate resilience, but small millet production and consumption in many South Asian countries, such as India, remains low. This project will address the challenge with research that will scale up small millet processing and value-added technologies. Technology solutions to improve processing Processing millets for modern food preparation is difficult, but new and practical innovations can make the grain easier to process, sell, and consume. This project will scale up use of two small millet production innovations developed through IDRC-funded research: improved post-harvest processing equipment and new millet-based food products. Engineers from Canada and India have developed two low-cost machines that farming communities, entrepreneurs, and food producers can easily use to separate the outer husk from the millet seed. This is a laborious and time-consuming job typically done by women. The innovation will increase local production and opportunities to use these micronutrient-rich grains in healthy food products. Advancing knowledge and healthy options Building on previous research that developed 40 new millet-based snack foods, baked goods, and other products, the research team will work with local communities, especially women's self-help groups, to implement this project. The project will take a supply chain approach to test interventions at different levels in the production-to-consumption system. This includes testing new ways to provide customized business development support to small- and medium-sized enterprises, training micro enterprises and farmer organizations, and linking key supply chain players. The research team will also provide support to equipment manufacturers to ensure they have the capacity and capabilities to provide dehullers and other equipment that meet the processing needs of villages, micro-enterprises, and other companies. Small scale, large impact By the end of the project, two new business models will be tested to help governments and companies expand millet production and distribution across India and beyond. The project will increase capacity within at least five companies to manufacture different dehulling and processing equipment. These companies will serve villages, micro-enterprises, and large food producers. The project will also increase skills and knowledge at 10 small enterprises (e.g., hotels), 150 micro-enterprises (e.g., street vendors), and three farmer organizations to market appealing, ready-to-eat small millet products to more than 120,000 consumers. This project is funded under the Canadian International Food Security Research Fund (CIFSRF), a program of IDRC undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada provided through Global Affairs Canada (GAC).

Research outputs

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Study
Language:

English

Summary

Small Millets (SM) provide superior nutritional content compared to other cereals, as well as medicinal properties. They are grown in diverse cropping systems and, with small-scale dehulling, nutrients are retained. This report covers aims, activities, outputs and outcomes of this successful project in Tamil Nadu region, India. Scaling up Small Millets (SUSM) partnership scores high on sustainability measurements with a team whose dedication to SM extends beyond the Canadian International Food Security Research Fund (CIFSRF) project timeframe. To date the project has been successful in the proposed scale up, helping large numbers of micro- and small enterprises produce (healthier) millet products.

Author(s)
Keats, Sharada
Report
Language:

English

Summary

As part of the larger project: “Scaling Up Small Millet Post-Harvest and Nutritious Food Products” the policy workshop acted “To discuss and develop concrete policy support needed for mainstreaming small millets at State and Central Government levels in improving production; development of decentralized processing infrastructure; market development; and promoting household consumption.” These points are elaborated upon in detail in this report, including discussions on “Guidelines for Setting up a Small Millet Processing Unit”, and policy support needed for market development for small millets. Recommendations recognize that government policy, investment and support are essential.

Brief
Language:

English

Summary

Practical innovations are helping to increase millet consumption and farmer incomes by making it easier to process, sell, and consume millets. New post-harvest processing equipment reduces dehulling time by 70-90%, freeing up women for other agricultural and entrepreneurial activities; better business models help governments and companies expand millet production and distribution across India and throughout Asia and Africa where small millet production remains a key crop for smallholder farmers. This project profile provides updates on next steps.

Author(s)
Karthikeyan, Muniappan
Report
Language:

English

Summary

As part of a larger project “Scaling Up Small Millet Post-Harvest and Nutritious Food Products,” the presentation outlines local and regional value chain development for small millets, where millet foods need to transform from “niche foods” to “mass foods.” It describes efforts to scale up processing infrastructure and promote consumption of a once traditional grain food. Regional value chain development is happening as a result of: media action to market demand generation; a supportive role of Government; and private actors including processors, equipment manufacturers, and food enterprises that have adopted significant roles. Supply chain constraints are numerous.

Author(s)
Muniappan, Karthikeyan
Report
Language:

English

Summary

The presentation outlines local and regional value chain development for small millets, where millet foods need to transform from “niche foods” to “mass foods.” As part of a larger project, “Scaling Up Small Millet Post-Harvest and Nutritious Food Products” this presentation describes initiatives to scale up processing infrastructure and consumption of a once traditional grain food. By improving production, decentralizing grain processing and strengthening food enterprises, regional value chain development is enhanced. Other factors that support this development are farmers’ access to varietal diversity, introduction of improved harvesting machinery, and support for better organised production, storage and marketing of millet food products.

Author(s)
Muniappan, Karthikeyan
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