Milling News
The strong need for the milling industry in sub-Saharan Africa to advance Clifford Spencer We will soon be settling down to the rigours of the approaching UK winter whilst tucking into tasty bread, pasta, puddings, cakes, biscuits and other various nutritious and filling treats all part of the fantastic range of foods based on the most advanced milling technology that western nations enjoy. The Christmas period will certainly provide a contrast to the Milling4Life team’s recent trip to Ethiopia and our learning of the food system there. In particular the demonstrated strong need for the milling industry in sub-Saharan Africa to advance at a rapid rate of knots so that Ethiopia and other sub-Saharan countries can enjoy the benefit of balanced and nutritious milling products. When we arrived at Addis Ababa airport we were greeted by pictures of a minute ochre-red seed and a billboard with the words: “Teff: the ultimate glutenfree crop!” Ethiopia is indeed the native home of Teff, a highly nutritious ancient grain increasingly finding its way into health-food shops and supermarkets in Europe and America. We ate Teff with traditional meals during our stay and I understand little has changed in its field production over recent decades as the grain is little used outside of Africa. Its tiny seeds – the size of poppy seeds – are high in calcium, iron and protein, and boast an impressive set of amino acids. Naturally gluten-free, the grain can substitute for wheat flour in anything from bread and pasta to waffles and pizza bases. In particular the benefits of the latest milling technology are yet to be provided in all its various glories to leading indigenous African crops such as Teff, Millett and Sorghum. Of course crops like Maize and Rice grown on the African continent can and do benefit from milling technology developed in other areas of the world that grow these crops and which can then be provided for Africa. However there are good agricultural reasons for the growing of various African indigenous grains and I will start to examine this situation and these crops and their milling potential and their needed milling developments in more detail a series of articles starting in the January issue of Milling & Grain. In Ethiopia, Teff is a national obsession and is grown by over six million (yes six million) farmers with fields of the crop covering more than 20% of all land under cultivation in the country. Ground into flour and used to make Injera, the spongy fermented flatbread that is basic to Ethiopian cuisine, the grain is also central to many religious and cultural ceremonies. Across the country, and in neighboring Eritrea, diners gather around large pieces of Injera, which doubles as cutlery, scooping up stews and feeding one another as a sign of loyalty or friendship – a 18 | December 2016 - Milling and Grain
tradition known as Gursha. Ethiopia’s growing middle class is also pushing up demand and prices for the crop which over the past decade has sadly put the grain out of reach of the poorest in Ethiopia. Today, most small farmers sell the bulk of what they grow to consumers in the city. As western consumers acquire a taste for Teff the Ethiopian government will need to ensure that Ethiopia and its farmers benefit from new global markets. Government restrictions, instituted in the last decade forbid the export of raw Teff grain, only allowing shipments of Injera and other processed products. But this could change: the goal is to produce enough Teff for domestic consumption and a strong export market, according to the government’s strategy. However growing demand for so-called ancient grains has not always been a straightforward win for poor communities as has been seen with the rise of the consumption of Quinoa from Bolivia and Peru to meet western demand. So great was the interest in the crop that even when I was practically farming in the UK around 15 years ago I was contracted to grow large fields of the crop for the food industry to experiment with and learn the crop. It needs to be remembered that Ethiopia remains on the UN’s list of least-developed countries. Nearly a fifth of Ethiopian children under five are in some way malnourished or suffer stunted growth, and the UN’s World Food Programme estimates the costs of chronic malnutrition takes huge chunk of the countries GDP – some say up to 20% which is staggering when you compare that to a western country. So through this one example think of the good that a well organised, well equipped and vibrant milling industry in sub-Saharan Africa would be able to provide! At the same time as the food side of milling with the bean for aquafeed project I described last month we will need to produce the feed rations and establish the complimentary fish feeding trials in Ethiopia to provide experience and data to allow a successful industrial development. As a result we are also currently in discussions with potential funders for this work and as described in last month’s column already have an Ethiopian miller on board to assist with this development. As part of this effort we will through our sister charity Aquaculture without Frontiers be engaging with the animal nutrition aspects and this effort will be run in parallel to the required milling developments. Indeed we recently met with Michael New O.B.E. the founder of Aquaculture without Frontiers and during our discussions planned to attend a major aquaculture event in Cape Town in the middle of 2017 that might go some way to spreading the benefit of our Ethiopian feed grain milling aims across Africa. There is lots to be done by Milling4Life in this great lifegiving industry.