Ethiopia is to resume export of Teff flour in the coming budget year after the ban set by the government in 2006, Addis Fortune reported.

The export resume is targeted at utilizing the comparative advantage of Ethiopia in the national market as a result of the special flavor and taste of the Teff it produces according to Khalid Bomba (PhD), the Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

“We will be implementing it in two major ways; the first is we will not export raw grain and secondly, we will ensure that we will not affect the domestic supply of the product in the country,” Khalid stressed.

6,000 hectares of land will be cultivated for 2015/16 budget year exclusively for Teff export and 20 to 30 quintals of Teff a hectare is expected.

Ethiopia’s Teff production for 2013/14 fiscal year was 44.2 million quintals and the cultivated land was three million hectares, according to the Central Statistical Agency (CSA) Agricultural Sample Survey Report on Area of Production of Major Crops.

Commercial farmers will commence exporting Teff and smallholder farmers will be able to export in the future, said Khalid.

Currently, the export of Teff, except in the form of Injera is prohibited and the new initiative will direct to other ways of exporting such as milling the grain and packaging it.

The Ethiopian government has put a ban on Teff exports because of the price hike, according to the January 2013 Food & Agriculture Organization’s (FAO), Monitoring African Food and Agricultural Policies Report on Analysis of Incentives and Disincentives for Teff in Ethiopia.

“The Teff that will be exported from Ethiopia will be tagged ‘Ethiopian Teff’ and companies can put their own signs in addition to that,” Khalid said.

“All processes from the access to land to the time of export will be monitored by the government; the moisture content and the existence of any impurities will be checked,” said Sileshi Getahun, State Minister of Agriculture.

Source: Addis Fortune