The African-Asian Rural Development Organization (AARDO) organised an International Roundtable meeting on “Millets for Global Food Security” in Hyderabad in association with the National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE).
Prof. Priti Ranjan Sahoo, Associate Professor of the School of Management, KIIT DU was invited as an expert speaker at the Plenary Session. Prof. Sahoo spoke on “Value Addition and Value Chain in Millets”. He discussed the initiatives and innovations at Odisha Millet Mission at length and how the O.M.M. is strengthening the food security & health of tribal communities and has revived millets in farms and on plates. Odisha has set a global benchmark by promoting millet entrepreneurship, focusing on empowering Mission Shakti (Women Self Help Groups). During his talk, he cited several examples of how the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) has always focused on providing food rooted in the tribal culture, and that’s why millet is an essential element of the student’s diet. He further cited the Millet Hub at KIIT Deemed University, the first-ever exclusive Millet Cafe on a university campus in India and the world.
African-Asian Rural Development Organization (AARDO) is an autonomous inter-governmental organisation established in 1962for cooperation among the countries in agriculture and rural development. AARDO has thirty-two member countries in Africa and Asia. AARDO a non-political body enjoys observer status with various U.N. and other international organisations like Food and Agriculture Organization (F.A.O.), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), International Cooperative Alliance (I.C.A.), Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific (CIRDAP), etc.
The National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE) was established in 1987 as the National Centre for Management of Agricultural Extension in Hyderabad by the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India, as an autonomous Institute.
During the occasion, AARDO released its official Journal, “African Asian Journal of Rural Development,” Volume 58, Issue II (in circulation since 1966). In this issue, Prof. Sahoo has contributed a research paper on “Role of Farmers and Consumer Behaviour in Mainstreaming Millet: Evidence from Odisha Millet Mission (O.M.M.)”.
The programme witnessed the active participation of twenty-one representatives of thirteen AARDO member countries. Among others, Padmashree Dr. Khadir Walli (Millet Man of India); Padmashree Dr. Subhash Palekar (Natural Farming); Dr. P. Chandra Shekara, Director General, MANAGE; Dr. C. Tara Satyavathi, Director, ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research; Prof. Poornima Varma, I.I.M., Ahmedabad; and Prof. Amandeep Singh, I.I.T., Kanpur attended the roundtable meeting.
As a part of the programme, the delegate visited the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Indian Institute of Millets Research (ICAR-IIMR), National Academy of Agricultural Research Management (ICAR-NAARM), and National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRD&PR).