From Day 2 of our listening/learning trip to Ghana and Ethiopia. You can read more about our trip here.

On Wednesday, June 17th, ONE and RED took a group of American influentials just outside Addis to the Golden Rose Agrofarms in the town of Tefki. They are one of the pioneers of the cut flower industry in Ethiopia. Cut flowers are a major agricultural product for Ethiopia and exports have grown from $13 million in 2004/2005 to $23 million in 2005/2006. Estimates are that it could earn $100 million in the next couple of years. The number of cut flower producers has grown from 3 in 2001 to about 40 now. Golden Rose is a family business that started exporting roses in 2000. They currently employ more than 700 people, about 500 of them women, and produce about 80,000 roses a day on about 15 hectares of land. They export 15 million roses a year to Scandinavian countries as well as the Middle East. With money from USAID, Golden Rose is working on expanding their farm, and has already acquired some land next door. This will mean an increased capacity to produce and more people employed in the agriculture sector in Ethiopia.

The Managing Director of the farm, Ryaz Shamji, took us around the farm with his lovely wife and explained to the group the effort they have put into the sustainable development of Ethiopia as well as ensuring good working conditions for their employees. Golden Rose encourages the employment of those with disabilities, has instituted a contributory program that allows employees to manage the funds and invest in collective projects. We saw the latest project – a grinding machine – being put together on the premises during our tour. Golden Rose also worked with government in the early days to set up incentives to attract additional cut flower producers and these discussions resulted in the creation of tax holidays, easy access to land, access to finance at low fixed interest rates and import duty waivers enjoyed by entrants to the industry today.

The government favors the flower sector because of the possibility for foreign exchange earnings while absorbing certain amounts of labor. When asked why he worked so hard to encourage additional investors and create competition for himself, Ryaz answered that the more cut flower producers entered the Ethiopian market, the better off Ethiopia would be.

Golden Rose is truly a model farm for sustainable agricultural development in Africa!

-Edith Jibunoh

A look at day two from our delegation traveling through Ethiopia and Ghana. Learn more about their trip here.

What was one of today’s great highlights? Efficiency, energy and entrepreneurialism harnessed around Ethiopia’s oldest product: coffee. For someone that treasures their morning latte, it was truly an inspirational lesson.

Ethiopian’s take their coffee seriously, which is not surprising given that it contributes 60% of their export earnings (valued at $525 million) and employs 15 million farmers.

Our first briefing was at the Coffee Cooperative, an efficient model of scalable enterprise that provides farmers with a platform to sell their coffee. Over the last decade, this cooperative has successfully grown in size and scale.

Our next stop was the “Coffee Plant and Warehouse Enterprise,” a plant that processes over 600 metric tons of coffee per year. We were immediately captivated by the “Stacking and Storage Plant,” the spot where the Cooperative coffee first arrives from various farms. The delivery team of 150 unload the bags from the truck and run with lightning speed—with the 85 kilo bag on their head—to their next teammate, who stacks the unsorted coffee bags on a trolley and runs even faster to deposit the bags into the sorting area. Next, four durable machines sort the beans by grade, depositing them into the “sorting room.” Here, 200 women hand sort the beans, the sound of their peaceful efficiency in stark contrast to the high-pitched hum of the earlier machines. Finally, the sorted coffee is stored until the order is fulfilled and sent to the port of Djibouti.

And why the speed of the runners, who deliver 85 kilo bags with great hollering and cheering during an eight hour day? Load balancing of the four processing machines ensures consistency of operation. Now that’s a stimulant!

This energetic plant employs approximately 1000 people – 380 contractors, 400 women and 150 delivery men. Plum jobs are the permanent employees – paid over one dollar per day, with eligibility for an annual bonus, limited healthcare and the opportunity to benefit from the sale of the “by product husks.” Temporary workers are paid 50 cents a day, with a three month contract.

Our last stop of the day was a true inspiration. The Ethiopia Coffee Exchange (ECX), founded by Dr. Eleni Gabre-Madhin, opened in April 2008. The ECX, an open outcry system, now trades 100% of Ethiopia’s coffee, plus a portion of other grains. This is Africa’s first electronic commodity exchange: a model of trust, transparency and integrity. Now that’s inspiring entrepreneurialism!

-Juliet Flint