Hana Deyas, 32, is currently working at Export Department of Zuqualla Horti Plc. (Zuqualla Farm) which produces high quality ornamental cuttings and strawberry cultivated using innovative gutter system in Lume Woreda of East Shoa Zone, Oromia Regional State.
Hana, a mother of two, was born and grew up in rural Bika Kebele of Lume Woreda, where Zuqualla Farm operates hydroponic strawberry cultivation for local and export markets. Hana still remembers her early years at Bika Primary School (Upto Grade 8), which lacked standard facilities at that time.
Most African and other developing countries shared similar past story, whereby learning environment and educational facilities used to be below standard, and thereby making students less interested in education, and significantly contributing to school drop outs.
Hana’s current workplace is a walking distance from Bika Primary School. Along with her colleagues, she nowadays frequents to the School where Zuqualla Horti PLC has been making significant contribution as part of its committed corporate social responsibility (CSR) engagement.
The Company built five standard classrooms for Bika Primary School in the years 2024 and 2025, and equipped them with the essential facilities, while it is now progressing with the construction of four additional classrooms, which are going to be completed and go functional in September at the beginning of the new academic year in Ethiopia.
Wearing smiles on her face, Hana says she is very happy about the current condition of her primary school where her employer Company has also constructed Kindergarten classrooms with the necessary amenities, including outdoor playing facilities.
Zuqualla Horti Plc has enabled the Bika Primary School and the Kindergarten to access water from the proximate facility wherefrom some local people in the neighborhood can easily have the access to the water.
Operating on 42 hectares of farm land, Zuqualla Horti PLC has created job opportunities for 385 permanent employees and 109 seasonal workforces. During peak season, the total number of the workforce grows to 600.
Generating social and economic opportunities for the local communities, Zuqualla Horti PLC is also blossoming with its CSR projects in Muda Kebele, adjacent to Bika, where it is currently constructing a three-classroom standard Kindergarten and a 1.1km-road that improves accessibility and links a village to the main road.
Zequalla Horti PLC has also installed a new borehole water pump in Muda Kebele, where it restored the access to clean water by the local communities after the previous system had been out of service for many years. It has also donated two 5,000-liter water tanks to ensure a reliable water supply to the community.
Without being confined to contribution of building social facilities, the Company also donates school material every year to students from less fortunate families at Bika and Muda Schools and other low-income families in the Woreda.
While providing continuous educational support for five orphaned children at the neighboring Desta Foundation childcare center, Zuqualla Horti PLC also spreads its CSR wings to reach a School of Visually Impaired Students in Bishoftu and Sedekiyas Elderly Charity Organization in Adama, supporting education opportunities for visually impaired students and also assistances to elderly people respectively.
The Company’s workers also actively participate in voluntary blood donation campaigns, contributing to local healthcare services and supporting patients in need of lifesaving blood transfusions.
With these and other projects including contribution to development of water and sanitation facilities in the Woreda, Zuqualla Horti PLC has continued its strategic CSR interventions, demonstrating its long-term commitment to creating positive social impact and contributing to the sustainable development of the communities in which it is operating.
The Ethiopian Horticulture Producer Exporters Association (EHPEA) champions CSR interventions and initiatives by guiding its member Farms through progressive multi-tiered Code of Practice (CoP), with Gold, Silver and Bronze Level Certifications.
The Gold Level Certification is the highest level of compliance and it is awarded to Farms recognized for their baseline-exceeded performance with exceptional commitment to profound environmental and social responsibility among others.
Zuqualla is one of the Gold-certified Farms that establish strong, proactive cultures of worker investment, community support and environmental responsibility that go far beyond standard compliance.
