Day: May 24, 2019

Ethio Agri-ceft/Agri Flower Holeta is one of the pioneers of horticulture investments in the country. It is well-known for its diverse rose varieties and a good track record of engaging in local communities developmental activities.
One of the strengths of the company lies in its efficient use of Compost—a decayed organic material used as a fertilizer for growing flowers. The company produces compost on its own in two methods known as conventional and vermi. In the conventional way the company’s trained workers produce compost by mixing greenhouse waste and molasses whereas in the latter method the company uses red worms bought from nearby research center to make organic soil from a blend of fruits.

Most of the inputs used in compost preparation are greenhouse waste and byproduct. Depending on local analysis compost is added to flowers in 3-6 months interval while fertilizer is applied every day. The company has three sites for compost preparation and it takes 6-8 weeks to get a fully decomposed organic material.

Compost is benefitting the farm in replenishing and enhancing soil fertility, increasing soil microbes and maintaining soil moisture. It is serving the purpose of reconditioning the soil continuously thereby protecting soil from depletion.

According to Farm Manager Leul Debas the company grows variety of roses such as Burgundy, Mario, Josie, Upper class, Bell rose, Antenna, Confidential, Deep purple, Bissu, Spana, and Revival, among others.

“Since our farm is in highland we do not face much insects infestation. Thus, we do not rely on class I chemicals. Most pesticides we apply are meant to control only fungus as opposed to lowland area where there is high infestation of insects.”

“We have got a lot of benefits since we started using compost. It enabled us to recycle waste product. We used to suffer from disposal of waste here and there. We started compost preparation to clean environment but eventually found it to be very crucial for fertilizer consumption, soil fertility and environment cleaning. On the whole, it enhances water holding capacity of soil and minimizes expense on fertilizer.”

At present the company is replacing old varieties of flowers which had been grown for over 7/8 years in the farm. It is also undertaking experimentation on various flowers in accordance with stakeholders and clients recommendations.

Ethio-Agri-ceft/ Agri Flower Holeta has fully utilized the land designated for it from the Holeta City Administration. It is cultivating some useful spices and herbs and nurturing bee farm on pieces of land not covered with greenhouse in the farm.

Marginpar Ethiopia PLC is a flower producing and exporting farm located near Holeta town in Welmera district. It currently grows and exports Eryngium, Astrantia and Crocosmia to Europe and the Far East.

Marginpar is participating in different CSR activities for meant to realize mutual growth. A good case in point is road construction spanning approximately 12-kms in two different locations of Choke kebele of Welmera through project community consulting, sharing gravel material, local resources and machinery, transportation and labor cost.

The kebele also come up with the idea support to build bridge on Welesu River in which the company bought culvert pipe, sand and gravel stone. At present the construction is underway and a wooden bridge is serving as a temporary solution.

Last year the company distributed 6,000 fast growing and indigenous trees to the community. For 40 households 5000lt pure drinking water supplied on two directions at Marginpar and it is taking action to support the nearby school in supplying drinking water.

Besides, the company covers Community-Based Health Insurance (CBHI) for 650 of its staff and 26 elderly from local community members providing them access to full health package for themselves and their family.

At a half-day workshop organized by Enterprise Partners in collaboration with LOCAL FRUIT on Food Quality standards at Saphire Addis Hotel Friday May 17, 2019, it was indicated that among eight fruit and vegetable growers list, seven farms praised for fulfilling most of the food safety requirements are EHPEA members.

Some actors in the industry on food quality standards for safety, food processing companies, exporters of food items and membership associations were present at the workshop. The speaker, Marijke Elshof, has over 15 years of hands-on experience in the EU market on quality standards requirements and evolution. She made brief presentation on the international market quality standards based on EU-Market and in the context of her grasp with the existing quality standards in Ethiopia.

The presenter made brief explanation on the International Market Standards, Global Food Safety Initiative (http:wygfsi.com), British Consortium, Global Standard for Food Safety, International Featured Standards, Food Safety System Certification (FSSC 22000), and International Organization for Standardization (ISO), etc.

She also described the steps and principles that should be followed to maintain the food safety and quality standard and acquired international certificates.

She highlighted that there are only eight exporting companies in Ethiopia who got international food safety standard certificate and suggested that more companies should be certified.  She finaly mentioned that her company would like to provide technical advice and ISO 22000: 2018 Standards and ISO 22002 1:2019 standard and checklist and additional requirement for FSSC 22000 and checklist for free.

The workshop touched upon related topics such as the requirements for Food Safety Certification 22000, Guidance on Food Defense, Guidance on Food Fraud Mitigation, Food Safety Management systems & requirements for any organization in the food chain as well as prerequisite programmes on food safety.

EHPEA staff members were among participants of the workshop.