Small, rough spot (flat or elevated), reddish in color (unusual shades like light, dark, pink, red or a fusion of the two), that is scaly on top, is very suggestive for actinic keratosis, or, solar keratosis.
Fair-skinned people are the ones who are at greatest risk for developing these lesions.
The main reason for its appearance is chronical sun exposure without suitable protection.
Actinic keratoses are precancerous (premalignant) lesions, meaning that they can eventually turn into a case of skin cancer (relatively few of them actually become cancers, and, the process typically takes years).
It takes many years or even decades for keratoses to develop (the predisposing sun exposure may have occurred many years ago).
Although, most commonly found in sun-exposed areas of the body such as the face, ears, and back of the hands, these lesion can also occur on the foot.