COMING UP ROSES
AFTER COFFEE – ETHIOPIA’S OTHER EXPORT
On a very wet day in May, we picked up Mr. Sisay Habte of the
Ethiopian Horticulture Producer Exporters Association (EHPEA)
in Addis and drove to visit one of the many giant greenhouse
complexes specializing in floriculture that we had sighted
along the Addis/Djibouti highway.
SEBLE DEMEKE AND MARIA DWEGGAH
The association is a non-profit organization representing the horticulture sector in the country and internationally. It organizes trade fairs such Hortiflora Ethiopia, which took place for the second time in the country from March 21- 23.
Mr. Fellek Zergaw, the young manager of the Dugda Flower Culture Development PLC, which employs 400 to 500 local farmers, mostly women, greeted us and gave us a tour of the vast grounds. An agricultural engineer by profession, he informed us that prior to this post, which he had held for two and a half years, he had managed a cotton farm. His dream is to own 35 hectares of land of his own and to expand his business exporting passion fruit to Europe and other parts of Africa. Included in our discussion of the business of growing roses, were the issues of working conditions, use of pesticides and protective devices and clothing, wages, training and our host’s own background, experience and management style. We were impressed by his energy and ambition.
We were shown to the large room where the roses are brought in from the fields and where a group of workers go through the thousands of harvested buds, selecting the best according to the size of the heads, the length of the stems, the colour and the quality. Prices vary accordingly. We were escorted to the room where they are packed and prepared for shipping to the airport. Transport is a challenge, as boxes can be damaged, flowers packed too loosely which could cause the price to drop at auction. The room was ice cold, nearly froze.
We were surprised to learn that Ethiopia is the second-largest producer of roses in Africa, with Kenya leading, and sixth in the world after Holland, Colombia, Ecuador, Kenya and Israel. Seventy (70) per cent goes to the Netherlands, the biggest auction centre for flowers and the rest to Russia, the U.S., Japan etc.
In an interview in the March 2007 issue of Holland HORTIinews, EHPEA’s President spoke of the incentives and policies which make Ethiopia one of the key players in flower production. “There is safety. You do not need to buy land and tie up your money in it. You can lease the land and use that money to invest in the production. Ethiopia has proximity to Europe in terms of market. Labour costs are cheaper than many around. The weather is ideal for horticulture business. We do not pay for water. We can bore holes and extract the water for irrigation. Finance is also another factor why investors come here. You can get loans from banks up to 70 per cent of what the project takes without any collateral. We also have five years for tax holidays. Capital goods for projects are also free of import duty taxes. So this is really what makes staying and investing in Ethiopia advantageous.”
Though wet and cold, we were much better informed about this sector of horticulture production in Ethiopia, and were rewarded on our departure with beautiful multicolored bouquets of freshly picked roses offered to each one of us.
