domestic price has risen. Fonio is a wild-grown crop and is
often harvested when other crops fail.
Not all grains are for food. Grains are used in the production
of local beer, which has an important socio-cultural role in
many African societies and is an important income earner
for women. Grain by-products are also a source of fodder in
many countries, and the dried stems of the plants may be
used as housing material and cooking fuel.
In SSA, grains are supplied from domestic production, commercial
importation, and food aid. Imports have grown in
importance as a source of supply over the years. The share
of imports in total grain consumption increased from about
5 percent in 1961 to over 25 percent in recent years. Food aid
increased sharply in the 1980s, reaching more than 10 percent
of total grain consumption in 1984 (FAO 2006). Although the
importance of food aid has declined since then, it still accounts
for between 3–5 percent of the total grain consumption
in SSA. Production of the major grains in SSA has been
rising at 3 percent annually over the past 40 years (Figure 2.3).
Table 2.1 presents detailed production data by region.
SSA countries were occasional net grain exporters in the
early years after the 1960s, shipping small volumes of maize
and sorghum. At that time, grain imports represented only