October 16, 2017
8:54 pm
Ethiopia’s ‘super grain’ seeks to capture global market
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As global demand for teff, Ethiopia’s gluten-free indigenous staple crop grows, officials and businesses are looking to tap the global market by modernizing the ancient crop, letting its healthy taste spread worldwide
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Source: Anadolu Agency
By: Seleshi Tessema
Teff is a main crop in the East African country Ethiopia that yields a mixed red-and-white seed the size of a poppy. Ethiopian consumers buy the seed from farmers or traders and ground it into flour to make a pancake-like fermented spongy bread called injera, which can be consumed two or three times a day. According to the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization, teff accounts for about two-thirds of the daily protein intake in the Ethiopian diet.
“Teff is as old as Ethiopia,” said Esayas Lema, deputy head of the Agricultural Extension Program of Ethiopian’s Agriculture Ministry. “It was first discovered by Ethiopian farmers, who have been cultivating it for more than 3,000 years,” he said. “And like coffee, teff is ours, it is Ethiopia’s gift to the world.” Read more