International Year of Millets and COP28 by focusing on climate action, sustainable farming, food security, and improved nutrition.
In partnership with the SELCO Foundation, the Millet Demo Farm showcases the entire process of growing and using millets, from planting to consumption. It also highlights how millet can help farmers adapt to climate change.
Nirmita Chandrashekar, Senior Program Manager at SELCO Foundation, emphasized, “It’s important for the MENA region to use decentralized, sustainable clean energy for farm-level processing, especially for smallholder farmers. We’re collaborating with ICBA to share our expertise with all the countries where ICBA works.”
The launch event was attended by over 40 guests, including officials from the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), and various CEOs. Guests viewed millet trials at ICBA’s research station, examined post-harvest processing equipment, and sampled various millet-based dishes.
The millets and technologies featured at the Millet Demo Farm are the result of ICBA’s extensive research and partnerships with organizations like FAO and the SELCO Foundation. The goal is to boost millet production and use across the Middle East, North Africa, and other regions by sharing technology and building local skills.
For over twenty years, ICBA has led the development of nutritious and resilient crops suited to harsh, dry conditions. The organization has introduced stress-resistant crops like quinoa, sorghum, pearl millet, and Salicornia in various regions.
The centre also manages a unique genebank with over 16,000 samples of about 300 drought-, heat-, and salt-tolerant plant species, including millets, from over 150 countries. This collection includes around 270 samples of 70 plant species from the UAE, roughly 5,000 barley samples—one of the largest collections in the Middle East—and over 1,300 quinoa samples, the largest collection outside South America.
To date, the centre has distributed over 1,700 millet samples to partners in 29 countries and has conducted research on millet farming in Morocco, Togo, Tunisia, The Gambia, and Uzbekistan
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