The genomics of t'ef and finger millet domestication and spread

The Northern Highlands of Ethiopia and Eritrea (NHE) were a centre for food production in Africa, hosting one of the earliest agriculture-based complex societies on the continent. The NHE's geographical connections with the Arabian Peninsula, and Nilotic cultures led to the cultivation of southwest Asian crops and African native domesticates in its territory. Additionally, the NHE were also the domestication centre for crops like t'ef (Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter) and finger millet (Eleusine coracana L. Gaertn L.), after well-adapted local wild plants. Considering the paucity of the archaeobotanical record in the region and food remains' preservation issues, in this study, we aim to investigate the domestication and spread of t'ef and finger millet using genomics and interpreting the results in the light of archaeological proxies. Our data confirmed Eragrostis pilosa and Eleusine coracana subsp. africana as the sole wild progenitors of t'ef and finger millet, respectively. T'ef was initially domesticated in the NHE before spreading into southern Ethiopia and eastwards into southern Arabia. Finger millet spread followed two routes: one leading eastwards through the Red Sea to India, and the other southwards, through Kenya and Uganda, reaching southern Africa.This article is part of the theme issue 'Unravelling domestication: multi-disciplinary perspectives on human and non-human relationships in the past, present and future'.