Ethiopia, one of the world’s poorest countries, is also the native home of teff, a highly nutritious ancient grain increasingly finding its way into health-food shops and supermarkets in Europe, CCTV Africa reported. Teff’s tiny 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. Like quinoa, the Andean grain, teff’s superb nutritional profile offers the promise of new and lucrative markets in the west.

Tedd is grown by an estimated 6.3 million farmers in Ethiopia, with fields of the crop covering more than 20 percent of all land under cultivation. But growing appetite for traditional crops and booming health-food and gluten-free markets are breathing new life into the grain, increasingly touted as Ethiopia’s “second gift to the world”, after coffee.