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2013 United Nations International Year of Quinoa: super-grain


The United Nations has declared 2013 the International Year of Quinoa at the official launch on February 20.


The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations maintains that quinoa, the “super-grain” of the future, is gluten free and high in protein and nutrients. To fight global hunger and nutrition, FAO, says that quinoa is the only plant food that has all the essential vitamins and the ability to adapt to different ecological environments and climates. It is salt-tolerant and drought-tolerant, making it useful in marginal soils. It can also be grown at different altitudes, from sea level to an altitude of 4,000 metres, and can withstand temperatures between -8 and 38 degrees Celsius.


Therefore in countries with high malnutrition rates, conflict, or damaging weather conditions, the challenge is to increase the production of quality food and to protect countries from food insecurity. It appears to be the ideal crop for the United Nation’s Zero Hunger Challenge.
FAO maintains that quinoa is already showing high yields in Kenya and Mali, and they are considering it for production in Nepal’s Himalayas, the plains of northern India, the Sahel, Yemen, and other arid regions of the world.
In both developed and developing countries, it can be used in porridge, salads, as seeds, used as a cereal and made into flour for bread. It can even be fermented into beer.


Australia’s Rural Industries Research & Development Corporation (RIRDC) is funding the University of Western Australia to experiment with quinoa from overseas for their suitability in Australia’s dry conditions. The university is trialling the crop in several sites in Western Australia to test its yield, agronomy, and seed quality and to learn about its pests (Diversity, RIRDC, Issue 10, Summer 2013). In Australia, it has only been grown since 2007. However, there are only a few growers of quinoa in Australia, with a total production area of around 50 hectares, and only one farm (in Tasmania) for commercial production.



http://www.fao.org/quinoa-2013/home/en/

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
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