Sanoussi Diakité – the inventor tackling food security in Africa

Sanoussi Diakité (pictured), a Senegalese entrepreneur is tackling food security in West Africa.

Diakité has invented a machine that processes cereal in a fraction of the time it usually takes. Fonio is one of the most nutritious cereals in West Africa and needs little water to yield up to three crops annually.

It is drought resistant, grows nearly anywhere and does not need fertilizer, however, it can take up to two hours to husk just 2 kilograms (4.4 lbs) of the cereal by hand, which is a challenge.

Diakité said: “It is because I’m African and I was raised with fonio, that I understood what the true problem was.” He then invented the Fonio Husking Machine just over a decade ago.

It produces 5 kilograms (11 lbs) of fonio in just 10 minutes.

The machine can cost up to US$3 000, making it less accessible to ordinary people.

After several international awards and accolades, West African governments are taking notice of it. Diakité was awarded the runner-up 2013 Innovation for Africa award, as well as the 1996 Rolex Award for Enterprise.

The Fonio Husking Machine has been registered at the African Intellectual Property Organization.

The machine is also becoming increasingly popular at upmarket restaurants, among foreign visitors to West Africa and even among West African immigrants living in Europe.

Source: eNCA