EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a good news since the flower exporters are affiliated with the {www:Woyanne} regime, and the fertilizer they use to grow flowers for export is destroying nearby lakes and rivers.
Sabeta, Ethiopia – A local pop song trills out from the radio, filling the cavernous packing hall at the Ethio Highland Flora farm in Sabeta, a 45-minute drive from Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa.
Dozens of workers tackle a seemingly endless stack of exotically named roses, separating the short stems and rotten petals from the bright Valentino, Duo Unique, Wild Calypso, and Alyssa blooms destined for Europe.
Most of the farm’s 400 employees earn less than a dollar a day, but it is a steady wage in one of the world’s poorest nations where 80 percent of the population lives off the land.
This year the 20-hectare farm, a sprawl of irrigated and temperature-controlled greenhouses, is set to beat its target for growing, cutting, and exporting 21 million stems.
That is a 15 percent rise on its contribution to the 1.5 billion stems exported by Ethiopia in 2008, earning an estimated $175 million for the industry.
But the positive figures belie a dramatic slump in demand for flowers as the global economic crisis forces European consumers, Ethiopia’s main market, to curb spending on perceived luxuries. It’s a tough blow for Ethiopia, where flower power was touted to supplant coffee as Ethiopia’s main export and highest earner of foreign exchange.
Many analysts now fear that, without swift assistance, Ethiopia’s nascent flower industry will wilt in the heat of global recession.
“We’re not talking about falling profit this year, just survival,” says farm manager Emebet Tesfaye. “Even Valentine’s Day was down from last year. The problem is Europeans don’t want flowers right now. The buyers in Amsterdam control the market, and they are setting prices very low – there is no minimum price for our stems. Every loss is on the growers’ side: transport, water, electricity, wages, and even fees to the rose breeders.”
Sales down on Valentine’s Day and ‘Mothering Sunday’
Sales forecasts are traditionally pegged to an expected bonanza at Valentine’s Day and Mothering Sunday (Europe’s version of Mother’s Day on March 22). This year Ethio Highland Flora Farm sold 20 to 30 percent fewer flowers, punching a hole in expected revenues and compounding the pain caused by low stem prices.
Prices per stem are now 10 cents (euro) or less, down 15-20 percent from last year.
On bad days, the flower auction houses of Amsterdam – where the majority of stems from Kenya, Ethiopia, Namibia, and Tanzania vie for buyers – have reported dips of up to 40 percent.
Four farms have already filed for bankruptcy – out of 85 – while at least half of the remainder are operating at a loss.
Oh, what a difference half a year makes
Just six months ago, things looked very different.
Foreign and local investors piled into the sector lured by predictions of revenues of $1 billion within five years, tax incentives, and a surfeit of cheap labor.
One thousand hectares of land went under cultivation, more than 50,000 people were directly employed on the farms, with tens of thousands earning a crust along the supply chain, as Ethiopia threatened the regional primacy of Kenya’s longer-established floriculture.
Keen to banish Ethiopia’s famine-ridden reputation, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi played his part, hailing flowers as the flagship of an increasingly buoyant economy – the government says that in 2008 gross domestic product grew at just under 10 percent.
And it is to him that the flower farmers are now turning, calling for a reprieve from the banks which are nervously eyeing their loans, and the freight firms and airlines, who currently charge $1.85 per kilo of cargo to fly the flowers to Europe.
“This is a problem caused by the developed world, but we are paying for it in Africa,” says Tsegaye Abebe, president of the Ethiopian Horticulture Producers and Exporters Association (EHPEA). “We can tolerate low market prices for a time, but if prices continue like this for many more months our industry will be under serious threat. It is time for all the businesses with a stake in the sector to help each other out.”
Despite a recent pledge to support the industry “through thick and thin,” Meles – as he is widely known – can not hold back the confluence of global and local forces sweeping across the Ethiopian flower business.
Too much power in hands of European middlemen?
It is a tough trade; cheap and high quality stems pour into the market from across Africa and Latin America, putting European buyers in the driving seat.
Prices are set low in the knowledge there is a surplus of supply from desperate growers, and farm owners have yet to build the capacity to trade directly with supermarkets – the major sale point for flowers.
As a newcomer to the market, Ethiopia does not benefit from the same economies of scale as neighboring Kenya, raising fears it is particularly vulnerable to the price shock.
Mr. Tsegaye believes survival can be secured through a diversification of products to include herbs, fruits, and vegetables, and markets to reach Japan, Middle East, Russia, and the United States. “But that depends on the short and medium term being kind to us,” he says.
The social impact of decline will also be keenly felt in Sabeta – where small holding farmers were convinced to sell their land to flower farms by the promise of big rewards to come.
The majority of flower workers are women, and the recession threatens to stymie plans to empower them with minimum labor standards and unions.
It has deflated Emebet Tesfaye’s hopes. She may soon be left with the awkward choice of dumping some of the 70,000 flowers a day produced at Ethio Highland or flooding the market with roses no one is buying.
A recent visit to a Dutch auction house intensified her gloom as she witnessed the pecking order of a market which roots flower-producing nations to the bottom.
“Each morning the buyers look at their computer screens and click one button that determines the life of all these people,” she explains gesturing to the female packers. “We have no power.”
Imagine a life without the {www:imagination} of the printed page. Imagine a life without libraries in dusty African villages. Imagine the soaring imagination of two librarians who decided to solve this problem with the help of donkeys.
Next week school children around the United States will participate in fundraising events to help pay for mobile donkey libraries and other projects to improve literacy for children in Ethiopia. They will do this by participating in the first annual Ethiopia Reads Book Week U.S.A., which is supported by Scholastic Literacy Partnerships in conjunction with the organization Ethiopia READS.
You can enjoy presentations by Ethiopian dancers and storytellers today during the kickoff of Ethiopia Reads Book Week at Aurora’s Central Library, 11 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. You can also meet a donkey and see a {www:replica} of a book mobile cart.
Fifty years ago, when librarian Yohannes Gebregeorgis was learning how to read from Peace Corps volunteers in his Ethiopian village, he probably would never have imagined such an event. After all, the only reading materials available were the textbooks at school.
He also probably never imagined that he would establish a publishing company—Ethiopian Books for Children and Educational Foundation—or become a children’s author or be named one of CNN’s Top Heroes of 2008 for “championing children.”
There were no public libraries in Gebregeorgis’ homeland, and he didn’t own a book until he was 19. It was this ownership, according to the International Reading Association, that “sparked a sparked a lifelong commitment” to improving literacy in his homeland.
That commitment, coupled with the degree in librarianship that he gained in the U.S. after having to flee here as a political refugee, resulted in the organization Ethiopia READS. Gebregeorgis created it along with his friend and fellow librarian, Jane Kurtz, a children’s author who lived in Ethiopia as a child.
The International Reading Association quotes Gebregeorgis as saying that most Ethiopian children still only “have {www:access} to textbooks in the classroom. Books children read outside of school, those are the spices of education.”
How can you help? Visit the “Get Involved” webpage at Ethiopia READS.
For More Information: Here are two great YouTube videos. The first one, from Voice of America, shows Yohannes Gebregeorgis and the donkey bookmobile. The second, is a lyrical view of Awassa, the first Ethiopian village to receive the bookmobile service.
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA — An international environmental group urged the African Development Bank (AfDB) to reconsider their commitment to fund the ongoing construction of a dam in southwest Ethiopia saying it would affect the ecosystems and livelihoods in the region.
The Gibe III Dam, located 190 miles (300 km) southwest of Addis Ababa, on the Omo River, is Ethiopia’s largest investment project. The project costs $1.7 billion.
In order to diversify and develop its economy, the government of Ethiopia has initiated an aggressive plan to develop hydropower for export, long seen as one of the country’s few exploitable resources. Foreign aid covers 90% of Ethiopia’s national budget.
International Rivers urged the AfDB to not fund the construction of Gibe III saying it will reduce food security of up to half a million poor farmers, herders and fishers in southwest Ethiopia and northern Kenya.
“An oasis of biodiversity in a harsh desert, Lake Turkana supports 300,000 people and rich animal life. Hundreds of thousands of fishing families and pastoralists will be affected if the lake’s fragile ecosystem is stressed to the brink of collapse.”
“The project would spread war and famine in a region that is already affected by climate change,” further said International Rivers.
Next week from May 13-14 the AfDB directors will discuss during a meeting to be held in Dakar, Senegal, the funding of Gibe III which is under construction since 2006. The African bank agreed to contribute to finance the project but it has to determine how much it would pay.
European Investment Bank is considering financing Gibe III, up to € 250 million, while Italy is mulling financing Gibe III with up to € 250 million.
In complaints filled to the AfDB, Kenyan NGOs and International Rivers assert that the project violates five binding AfDB policies.
Construction of the Gibe 3 Project began in July 2006 with flagrant violations of Ethiopia’s laws on environmental protection and procurement, said the environment advocacy group.
It also alleged that the contract was awarded without competitive bidding to Italian construction giant Salini, raising serious questions about the project’s integrity.
The nongovernmental group said the AfDB should suspend its plans to fund this project until a thorough review and consultations with all affected peoples have taken place.
“The AfDB should in the meantime help Ethiopia drought-proof its energy sector, diversify its energy mix, and tap its abundant renewable energy resources.”
SAN DIEGO — A man who was arrested and charged in an attack on a woman in Linda Vista last month has been released from jail after his alibi was verified by police, authorities said Wednesday.
Mulugeta Hagos, 24, told investigators he was at his job as a security guard for Kaiser Permanente when the attack took place about 6:15 a.m. April 18, said San Diego sex crimes Lt. Rick O’Hanlon.
He was released from jail Monday night, pending further investigation, O’Hanlon said.
The 38-year-old woman was walking toward a bus bench on Linda Vista Road near Fulton Street when a man got out of a nearby car. The attacker grabbed her from behind, aimed a pistol at her head and tried to force her into the vehicle, police spokeswoman Mónica Muñoz said at the time.
When the woman fought back, the attacker struck her at least once on the head with the gun, Muñoz said. The gun went off during the struggle, but the woman was not hit by gunfire.
Investigators declined to say what led them to arrest Hagos on April 22. He was booked into jail on suspicion of attempted sexual assault, assault with a deadly weapon and kidnapping for sexual assault.
“We verified his alibi, but the investigation is still open and no one has been eliminated as a suspect yet,” O’Hanlon said.
Hagos, an immigrant from Ethiopia, could not be reached for comment Wednesday morning.
Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu founded the soleRebels brand in 2004 with her husband and brother to help create jobs in Zenabwork, Ethiopia. At the time there were hardly any jobs in the community. But when the family decided to redesign traditional Ethiopian shoes made from recycled tires, expansion mode kicked in and employees were hired.
They turned global with online retailers from Whole Foods, Endless, Amazon, Urban Outfitters, and more. The brand grew to more than 10 countries around the world , including the USA, UK and Italy.
The company is titled bostex plc, which stands for “By Ourselves Textiles” and intentionally implies that the business makes most of its inputs by itself, ‒ and by hand. There’s a label vegans appreciate that’s cruelty-free. Then a favored material is heritage-organic Ethiopian cotton that is sourced from small-scale local farmers for traditional hand spin and loom by community artisans. Another collection is entirely made from pure organic Abyssinian cotton, utilized since ancient times for an incredible soft touch.
Production is authentic and “green” by Ethiopian heritage, not because of conscious trends. Bethlehem, now Co-founder and Managing Director, points out that zero carbon output is the norm since Ethiopians recycle as a way of life. They don’t even refer to the process as recycling. Their fair trade, no middlemen strategy and standards benefit the company while giving maximum value to the retailer, and best price to the consumer.
Bethlehem smiles with glee over sustainably developing a global brand from Ethiopia. She believes fair trade business is more important than charity.
I personally hope designers from bostex plc are nominated in the Best Sustainable Footwear Designer contest poll. Submissions are honored through May 31st, 2009. Read instructions and about previous winners of Chíc Eco designer competitions here.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – China’s build-up of sea and air military power funded by a strong economy appears aimed at the United States, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Monday.
Admiral Michael Mullen said China had the right to meet its security needs, but the build-up would require the United States to work with its Pacific allies to respond to increasing Chinese military capabilities.
“They are developing capabilities that are very maritime focused, maritime and air focused, and in many ways, very much focused on us,” he told a conference of the Navy League, a nonprofit seamen’s support group, in Washington.
“They seem very focused on the United States Navy and our bases that are in that part of the world.”
China in March unveiled its official military budget for 2009 of $70.24 billion, the latest in nearly two decades of double-digit rises in declared defense spending.
Beijing bristles at criticism, saying its spending is line with economic growth and defense needs, and its budget remains a fraction of the Pentagon’s.
Mullen acknowledged that “every country in the world has got a right to develop their military as they see fit to provide for their own security.”
But he said the build-up propelled by fast economic growth required the United States and allies or partners like South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand to work together to “figure out a way to work with (China)” to avoid miscalculations.
Mullen’s comments followed remarks by President Barack Obama’s top adviser on Asia on Friday calling for high-level talks with the Chinese military to reduce mistrust.
A brief naval clash in March in waters near China underscored that “the absence of a sound relationship between our two militaries is a part of that strategic mistrust,” said Jeffrey Bader, senior director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council.
In that encounter, the U.S. Defense Department said an unarmed U.S. Navy surveillance ship was shadowed and harassed by Chinese ships.
(Reporting by Karen Jacobs, writing by Paul Eckert, editing by Alan Elsner)
Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu founded the soleRebels brand in 2004 with her husband and brother to help create jobs in Zenabwork, Ethiopia. At the time there were hardly any jobs in the community. But when the family decided to redesign traditional Ethiopian shoes made from recycled tires, expansion mode kicked in and employees were hired.