In Ethiopia and Eritrea, teff is the most common cereal crop used to make engera. Teff is a tiny, round, khaki-colored grain closely resembling millet. Its scientific name is Eragrostis teff. “Teffa”, the Amharic word for “lost”, is so named because of teff's small size.
Teff | ጤፍ
Teff was one of the earliest plants domesticated. Teff is believed to have originated in Ethiopia between 4000 BC and 1000 BC. Genetic evidence points to E. pilosa as the most likely wild ancestor. A 19th-century identification of teff seeds from an ancient Egyptian site is now considered doubtful; the seeds in question (no longer available for study) are more likely of E. aegyptiaca, a common wild grass in Egypt.
Teff is the most important commodity produced and consumed in Eritrea and Ethiopia: The flat pancake-like injera provide livelihood for around 6.5 million small farmers in the country. In 2006, the Ethiopian government outlawed the export of raw teff, fearing export-driven domestic shortages like those suffered by South American countries after the explosion of quinoa consumption in Europe and the US. Processed teff, namely injera, could still be exported and was mainly bought by the Ethiopian and Eritrean diaspora living in northern Europe, the Middle East and North America. After a few years, fears of a domestic shortage of teff in the scenario of an international market opening decreased. Teff yields had been increasing by 40 to 50% over the five previous years while prices had remained stable in Ethiopia.This led the government to partially lift the export ban in 2015. To ensure that the domestic production would not be minimized, the export licenses have only been granted to 48 commercial farmers which had not cultivated the plant before. Lack of mechanization is a barrier to potential increases in teff exports. Yet the increasing demand, rising by 7–10% per year, and the subsequent increase in exports is encouraging the country to speed up the modernization of agriculture and is also boosting research.Because of its potential as an economic success, a few other countries, including the US and some European countries, are already cultivating teff and selling it on domestic markets.