The eighth Public Lecture of the year in a monthly series entitled “Globalization of Teff: The Phenomenon and Its Implications from Ethiopia’s Perspectives” was held on Thursday 28 April, 2016 at the Auditorium of the Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa Institute of Technology (AAiT). The Public Lecture was delivered by a Senior Researcher in Plant Breeding and Genetics and a Fellow of the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences, Dr. Kebebew Assefa.
The Public Lecture started by presenting salient features on the agronomy and cultivation of teff in Ethiopia and expounded on the cultural values and health benefits of teff and proceeded to the internationalization of teff and its implications to Ethiopia.
Teff is one of the most widely cultivated crops in Ethiopia with a total area coverage of over 3 million acres contributing to about 20% of the annual total grain production of the country. It is the main source of the national bread (Enjera) and the teff flour has found its way in the preparation of many new and innovative dishes.
The cultivation and use of Teff has been limited to Ethiopia and Eritrea for many centuries. However it is now cultivated in some states of America, Spain, the Netherlands and in Israel. Various formulations of teff has found its way in the global market slowly with little benefit sharing schemes towards Ethiopian farmers. The latter issue was hotly debated in the Public Lecture.
People representing various non-governmental organizations, professionals representing agricultural and research institutions, individuals, officials representing governmental agricultural institutions, university lecturers and instructors, university students, high school students, EAS and EtYAS Fellows and individuals from the general public attended the Public Lecture.