hungry rice

English

Etymology

So called by Europeans because it was mistakenly believed to be a famine food in West Africa.

Noun

hungry rice (uncountable)

1. The cereal Digitaria exilis or white fonio.
   • [2023 July 6, Maria C. Hunt, “Could an ancient, climate-friendly crop be the future of beer?”, in The Guardian‎^[1], →ISSN:

     During the French colonial occupation of Mali and Senegal in the late 1800s, Europeans dubbed fonio “hungry rice”, believing it to be an inferior famine food. […]]