Our investment is helping smallholder farmers earn more from teff, while retaining export value inside the country
Agriculture is the backbone of Ethiopia’s economy, accounting for more than three quarters of employment and export revenues. Yet most of that value leaves the country as raw commodity, processed elsewhere. For the millions of smallholder farmers at the heart of this system, that means limited income and exposure to the shocks of drought, erratic rainfall and volatile markets.
Teff, a nutrient-rich indigenous grain, sits at the centre of Ethiopia’s food system. More than 6.6 million smallholder farmers cultivate it, and it remains central to rural livelihoods across the country.
In 2025, we invested £3.7 million in Lovegrass Ethiopia, an agri-processing company turning teff into value-added food products for domestic and export markets. By processing teff locally rather than exporting it raw, Lovegrass keeps more value inside Ethiopia, generating hard currency while building modern food-processing capacity.
Our investment will help expand production, create skilled jobs and deepen Lovegrass’s sourcing from smallholder farmers, with the ambition to reach thousands of rural producers as the business grows. For those farmers, a reliable, growing buyer means more stable income and a stronger foothold against the volatility that has long defined smallholder agriculture in the region.
