Across Africa, the future of sustainable food systems may depend partly on knowledge that has survived for generations. Chef Fatmata Binta, FAO Regional Goodwill Ambassador for Africa, is bringing renewed international attention to Indigenous culinary traditions and fonio, an ancient millet deeply connected with West African food culture.

Originally from Sierra Leone, Chef Binta draws heavily on the cooking traditions of the Fulani people. Her culinary philosophy combines her nomadic Fulani heritage, professional culinary training and connection with rural communities, creating contemporary dishes while preserving the authenticity of traditional food culture.

Fonio occupies a particularly important position in her work. FAO identifies the grain as a type of millet and highlights Binta as a strong advocate for its production and consumption. Her promotion of the crop also formed part of her involvement with the International Year of Millets 2023.

The significance of fonio extends beyond cuisine. It represents an agricultural crop with potential connections to climate resilience, nutrition, cultural heritage and rural livelihoods. For communities farming under difficult environmental conditions, strengthening traditional crops can provide another pathway toward more diversified and locally adapted food systems.

Binta's work has received major international recognition. In 2022, she became the first African recipient of the Basque Culinary World Prize. FAO says she has used the prize money to establish the Fulani Kitchen Foundation, which supports women farmers cultivating fonio as an additional income source and as a crop resilient to climate change.

Women farmers are central to this vision. Binta's work with women fonio producers demonstrates how preserving traditional agricultural knowledge can be combined with practical interventions that strengthen production and livelihoods.

In Ghana, her Fulani Kitchen initiative has collaborated with FAO and Ghana's Ministry of Food and Agriculture to support women fonio farmers. FAO reports that training has been provided to address challenges associated with traditional fonio production methods.

Her approach also challenges the assumption that agricultural innovation must replace traditional knowledge. Instead, Indigenous expertise can provide a foundation upon which appropriate technologies and improved farming practices are introduced.

Food culture provides another route for expanding awareness. Through her Dine on a Mat project, Binta combines Fulani culinary traditions with contemporary gastronomy, demonstrating how heritage ingredients can remain culturally authentic while finding new audiences.

FAO has involved Chef Binta in numerous millet-related initiatives as well as activities surrounding World Food Day, Junior World Food Day and the World Food Forum. Her designation as Regional Goodwill Ambassador for Africa further expands her platform for promoting sustainable food systems.

For the global millet community, Binta's work illustrates an increasingly important dimension of millet development. Expanding millet production is only one part of the opportunity. Protecting traditional knowledge, empowering women producers, strengthening livelihoods, preserving food heritage and creating contemporary demand are equally important.

Fonio's revival therefore represents more than the resurgence of an ancient grain. It demonstrates how Indigenous knowledge and modern food-system innovation can coexist—connecting heritage with climate resilience and local livelihoods with global gastronomy.