Chickpeas Undergo a Revolution

Ethiopia is an island of relative calm in a volatile region .
relative calm: Null
volatile: 揮発する、揮発性の、移り気な、気まぐれな、激しやすい、変わりやすい、不安定な

Last year the U.S. Agency for International Development called for expanding Ethiopia's economy and increasing its crop yields as a way of bringing more stability to East Africa .

The agency focused on a key crop :

the chickpea ( Cicer arietinum ) , which is in high demand as an ingredient in hummus and in nutritional supplements for famine-stricken regions .
famine-stricken: 【形】飢饉｛ききん｝に見舞われた

It is also relatively sustainable to grow :
relatively: 相対的に、比較的(に)、割合に、比較していえば、どちらかといえば

it acts as a natural fertilizer by fixing nitrogen in the soil and demands less water than some other popular crops such as the cereal grass teff .
grass teff: Null

Ethiopia was already Africa's largest producer of chickpeas , but researchers wanted to develop seeds that could grow more efficiently .

In August 2006 in the Journal of Semi-Arid Tropical Agricultural Research , scientists at the International Crop Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics ( ICRISAT ) identified favorable traits among more than 20,000 variations in the chickpea genetic code , allowing them to breed plants that mature more quickly and resist drought and disease .
favorable traits: Null

Rather than using biotechnological tools , scientists instead applied traditional crossbreeding techniques , which are effective yet more affordable .
crossbreeding: crossbreedの現在分詞。雑種
yet more: Null

ICRISAT researchers are using the same techniques on other crops across the developing world .

Tanzania , Sudan , Kenya , Myanmar ( Burma ) and India are all benefiting from better chickpeas , pigeon peas , groundnuts , pearl millet and sorghum .

The improved chickpea seeds have already made a difference :

Ethiopia's chickpea harvest increased 15 percent between March 2010 and March 2012. Farmers sell whole , dried chickpeas to local markets , which sell them as snacks or grind them into flour , and an expanding export market buys the crop to supply a growing global demand for hummus .
grind: (うすで)ひく、細かく砕く、すり砕く、すり砕いて作る、(硬いもので)磨く、とぐ、研磨する、ぎしぎしこする、(…を)(…に)ぎりぎりとこすりつける、回す
flour: 小麦粉、メリケン粉、粉末、細粉
hummus: フムス

Last year PepsiCo , which co-owns hummus maker Sabra , partnered with USAID and the United Nations World Food Program to expand Ethiopian farmers' access to more productive seeds and to such sustainable agricultural practices as drip irrigation .
drip irrigation: 点滴灌漑

Says Timothy Durgan of the development nonprofit ACDI/VOCA , which has been implementing USAID's agricultural efforts in Ethiopia :

Improved farming practices should enable Ethiopia to increase exports while adequately supplying local demand .