Written by Mina Yirga - Horizon Ethiopia Staff Writer
Wednesday, 02 December 2009
In the summer of 2005, Tewodros Tadesse Belay decided to visit his old hometown of Hawassa after 11 years in London. His childhood memories of working on his father’s farm during harvesting seasons had stayed close to him all these years.
“Since 1985 my father worked as a horticulturist in Hawassa. After establishing Greenwood Farms, he used to grow maize, beans and sweet potatoes for the local market. My passion for farm work began as a child when we used to walk through the fields. But it seriously needs dedication and love for the hard work that you do as a grower.”
Tewodros obtained his first degree in Business Management in the UK. He then started up and operated the Classic Bar & Restaurant in London, a popular destination for Ethiopians in the city who would frequent it every night for traditional food and live music played by artists who came to visit from Ethiopia. Life in the UK was going well for Tewodros. His restaurant was earning him a comfortable living but it was not enough to dissuade him from the deep seated longing that his vacation to Hawassa had awoken.
“Despite my comfortable life in the UK, I believe my short visit to Hawassa and seeing the farms where I spent my childhood made me change my mind about it. It felt like my old dreams and ambitions took hold and I decided to come back home and be a farmer.”
Tewodros now operates a 71 hectare commercial flower farm in Hawassa. Aside from flower farming, he also produces 16 other crops on an additional 34 hectares of land. He is deeply committed to the welfare of his workers and can talk for what seems like hours about how they all work together to make the farm successful. Some of the farm hands are actually smallholders themselves with tiny plots of land adjacent to Greenwood’s comparatively large holdings. So tight are the bonds between them that on the day we toured his farm, one of them had invited Tewodros to his home for a simple meal of bursame and thick yogurt.
Growing flowers in the humid heat of Hawassa is no easy task and does require some knowledge. But before he fully embarked in doing so, he undertook four weeks of training with Dutch flower farmers in Zeway, a bit northeast of Hawassa. And he seems to relish the manual work it takes to oversee the farm. Through it all, he does not regret for a moment the decision he made almost four years ago to move back home.
“Hawassa’s warm temperature makes it ideal for flower production. There may be dry seasons when you cannot even see a droplet of water. In order to mitigate this, we use an irrigation system to water the land. My father had one brought in from Israel some 10 years ago and it’s been installed 1.5kms away from the farm to pump the water from Tikur Weha Lake. We also have boreholes as a backup. ”
Tewodros’s patience paid off and two years later, Greenwood Flowers has managed to sell 39 daily packs of fresh and long stem roses to the Holland auctions. Soon, he plans to establish a significant supply of various fruits and vegetables to the local market in Hawassa where he feels there is great demand for such produce. His old hometown may be a far cry from London but home is where the heart is and despite the challenges that may come his way, Tewodros feels like what he learnt abroad will help him successfully cope.
“As most farmers, I am willing to trust myself to manage the risks around production cost and output. But market uncertainties for flowers, especially in the current global economic environment, can be a bit challenging at times. However, we are also involved in growing various seeds as well as fruits and vegetables. This is helping us overcome these tough times and is reflective of our comparative advantages in being able to effectively manage risks. We have to turn the newest ideas and growing technologies into one of a kind selling advantages for our business. We cannot afford to lose; we have 545 of our farmers that make a living off this land.”
God bless, this is also the dream of many Ethiopians to return home and be successful. Wish you much success in the years to come and thank you Horizon Ethiopia for the story.
Note to Tewodros written by Abe , February 13, 2010
Hi Tewodros - great initiative and best wishes for your continued success!!! I like the small-scale ownership you have introduced to your workers ... hope to see your story on the cover page of WSJ one of these days ...
Growing flowers in the humid heat of Hawassa is no easy task and does require some knowledge. But before he fully embarked in doing so, he undertook four weeks of training with Dutch flower farmers in Zeway, a bit northeast of Hawassa. And he seems to relish the manual work it takes to oversee the farm. Through it all, he does not regret for a moment the decision he made almost four years ago to move back home.
t home is where the heart is and despite the challenges that may come his way, Tewodros feels like what he learnt abroad will help him successfully cope.
