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Sher Ethoipia Plc, a company established by Dutch
investors, constructed a 200hct greenhouse for
flower and vegetable development at a cost of 40
million euros (540 million Br). The company has
started leasing this greenhouse constructed outside
Ziway, 163Km south of Addis Abeba, with 20
partitions to local investors interested to grow
flowers and vegetables.
“This is a landmark for the industry as it will be
of great help to local investors that afford to
construct greenhouses and buy seeds at once,”
Tsegaye Abebe, president of Ethiopian Flower and
Horticulture Producers and Exporters Association,
told Fortune.
Sher began constructing the greenhouse in late 2005
receiving the state-owned agricultural plot from the
Oromia Regional State Administration. According to
the Chairman, it needs an additional 18 months to
cover a total 500hct of plot with greenhouses.
The construction and supply of machineries for the
Ziway greenhouse was made by Belgian VERMAKO and
Israeli AZROM. Its water supply facilities were
installed by the Dutch company, ATS.
Meskel Flower Plc, the first company to engage in
flower farming in Ethiopia, has so far leased a
portion of land at the greenhouse. Other companies
like Experience and Prince Vegetable also have
commenced growing vegetables in the greenhouse
leasing plots from Sher.
Sher collects lease payments from such companies for
eight consecutive years and afterwards the plots
will be transferred to the companies themselves.
Gerrit declined to divulge the lease prices of the
plots. However, according to sources, the lease
price per square metre ranges from 0.55 to 0.70
euros (7.43-9.45 Br).
“As we have several lease orders from investors that
are captivated by the greenhouse, we will begin
another construction even bigger than this,” Gerrit
Barnhoorn, chairman of Sher Ethiopia, told
Fortune.
After the Ethiopian government formulated a policy
in 2003 to encourage investors focusing on export,
flower farming has been among the priority sectors.
With 72 local and foreign investors engaged in the
sector, over 1,000hct of land has been cultivated
until November 2007, of which 860hct is covered with
a greenhouses.
Of the 1.18 billion dollar total revenue Ethiopia
generated last fiscal year from exports, 100 million
dollars was fetched from floriculture. In the
2007/08 fiscal year, the country has envisaged to
double the revenue from the export of flower.
Accordingly, the Amhara Regional State has parcelled
700hct in Bahir Dar to grant to flower investors
free of lease. This, compounding with flower farms
in the Oromia and Southern Nations, Nationalities
and Peoples’ regional states, is expected to boost
the export revenue.
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