Month: April 2019

In a way that makes it different from other horticultural farms the 12-year old company, Gallica Flowers PLC, is pressing ahead with its project on preserving of flowers. Situated at Menagesha, Oromia Special Zone, the Company is known for its quality products. The higher altitude at Menagesha is a comparative advantage for the farm in flowers production.

Cut flowers are the predominant export commodity for our company. But, in order to cope with the major problems faced recently we are shifting from perishable to non-perishable products through preserving of flowers. The new technique would enable us to keep natural flowers fresh for years. “We preserve, package and export flowers. It took us three years to attain here. In so doing, we use a viable but effective technique,”Gallica General Manager Stephane Mottier said.

“The issue of land has not been settled. Though we signed a 30-year contract at the start the regional government came up with a new directive which led us to revoke the previous one and sign a 15-year contract for a twenty-hectare additional land we received.”

Up to know the company has created 350 jobs for youngsters and local household members in the area. The company has the potential to create over 1,000 jobs provided that the land lease issue is settled and the company is allowed to develop the remaining land not yet utilized.

According to the General Manager, the increased cost of inputs and packaging, foreign currency inconsistency, diminishing workers productivity, the changing climatic condition and the excess flower production at global market are some of the challenges the company is expected to work out in order to maintain its track record.

Company Farm Manager Gizachew Wondimu also noted that the company is testing a lot of products presently. “We undertake the task of preserving using a mix of flowers, seeds and herbs. Though our target is the international market we have also sold preserved flowers locally at Sheraton and Hilton hotels.”

The Farm Manager said the company is doing well with regard to CSR. So far we have developed potable water service at three spots for surrounding households. The company is ready to capitalize on corporate social responsibility activities done so far.

Government intervention and close support is quite essential to help overcome obstacles in horticulture investments. The existing investors should serve as an ambassadors. Instead of Dutch auction the company opts for direct market supply to countries in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa.

One of the services EHPEA has been providing to member farms is training. EHPEA is currently taking meaningful steps to upgrade its training department to institute level in order to support the horticulture farms with full-fledged and need based training programs.

Within this framework, the EHPEA training department and members of related departments attended a training organized in cooperation with the Addis Ababa TVET Agency focusing mainly on training methodology and developing curricula.  Mikias Bekele from the training department of EHPEA indicated that the next step is to finalize the task of curricula preparation and teaching guides to be derived from the occupation standards which are the key requirements for the accreditation of the training institute.

In parallel, the department is also working to share experiences from the Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce on how BMOs bring income generating and demand driven training centers into reality.

Mikias lauded the support and role of the German Training and Development Center – bfz in organizing the training, contacting trainers and providing technical assistance for the establishment of the institute.

Ethiopia has drafted its first ever seed policy aimed at administering the whole seed value chain from production to distribution with the purpose of ensuring a timely and quality supply of seeds to farmers.

The policy covers the activities and involvement of stakeholders in the processes of variety development, production and distribution to smallholder farmers. The policy is believed to help in addressing challenges faced by stallholder farmers in getting quality seeds in a timely fashion.

The policy also aims at enhancing productivity, assuring bio-diversity conservation, maintaining and security, modernizing and developing a globally competent seed industry by giving special emphasis to the private sector.

Further, the policy is expected to enable the country become self-sustained in seed supply, substitute seed imports and generate income from the export of seeds.

The Ethiopian Seed Association noted that the participation of the private sector in improved seed production and supply would be encouraged.

Drafted by a task force drawn from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ethiopian Development Research Institute over the past two years, the policy was submitted for approval to the council of ministers two months ago.

SHER Ethiopia and Adami Tullu Municipality representatives this week visited a site designated by the latter for a school project due to be undertaken.

SHER Ethiopia has planned to construct the school at Adami Tullu site situated in Jiddo Kombolcha District, East Shoa zone, Oromia Regional State.

The company has allocated a total of 36 million birr for the project which comprises kindergarten to preparatory level.

Company representatives and town mayor visited the selected site with the objective of reaffirming the school construction in which the foundation will be set after a month with the presence of relevant stakeholders,
community leaders, Abba Gedas and the media.

According to SHER Ethiopia General Manager, Abera Mamo, the first phase of the project, set to be finalized in September 2019, will be able to enroll 300-400 children at primary level.

Ethio-Agriceft, Agriflower Holeta has taken a bold step towards engaging in community-based health insurance program. With a view to creating awareness, company senior executives have contributed their first membership fees and called on the rest employees to follow through and become CBHI scheme beneficiary.

In Ethiopia, the CBHI initiative was set up as a community based health project that gathers payments made by members to cover basic health care costs at local health care centers whenever any member of the group is sick.

The program was launched in Ethiopia since 2011 and it has been implemented at various governmental, non-governmental and communities levels until now.