WHAT’S UP IN YOUR FARM?

እራስዎን ያስተዋውቁ ስም፣ ትዉልድ እና እድገት፣ የእርሻ ስም፣ እንዴት ቡና ውስጥ እንደገባችሁ፣ የምትሸጡት የቡና ዓይነቶች ፣ መቼ ነው መጀመሪያ ወደ ውጭ መላክ የጀመርከው

Who are you?

My name is Mustefa Mohammed Ali. I was born in a place specifically recognized by Botto in Jimma Zone, Gomma Wereda. After taking over the family farm, I spent my formative years working in the coffee business. Since then, I've expanded it to cover farms and stations in Botto and Gera.

 ከቤልኮ ጋር ስትሠራ ለምን ያህል ጊዜ ነው? ለቤልኮ የሸጥከው የቡና አይነት

How long have you been working with BELCO? 

I have been working with BELCO for 5 years now. I sold my first 40 bags of Natural coffee to BELCO in 2009 Ethiopian Calendar (2016 for us) after getting my export license. I sold 2-and-a-half container of Natural and Honey to BELCO last year.

እስካሁንምን ዓይነት ኢንቨስትመንት አድርገሃል? መጀመሪያ ላይ የነበረህንና አሁን ያለህን ግለጽ፤ መጀመሪያ ላይ ስንት ኮንቴይነሮች ወይም ከረጢቶች ወደ ውጭ ላክ

What investments have you made so far? Explain what you had at the beginning and what you have now; how many containers or bags did you do at the beginning versus now?

I built a washing station in Seriti in 2013 EC (2020) after I began working with BELCO. With a 3 million birr capital investment (50k €). If we get good coffee, the station, which is situated on one hectare, can process up to 10 containers. The dry station in Agaro, built with a capital investment of 11 million of birrs (200k €) in the year 2014 EC (2021), is another important investment. It is a 4,500 m3 space that can process up to 40 containers of coffee. I have also made an agricultural investment in dairy farming, I currently have 18 cattle. I have also invested in the construction of over 200 beehives. I would say that it took me a long time to realise these projects because I could not get a bank loan for all the investments I made.

እነዚህን ኢንቨስትመንቶች የመረጥከው ለምንድን ነው

Why those investments? 

I chose to invest in a dry mill and in a washing station as it will help me increase the amount of coffee I can process and avail for market. I can be able to control quality which is the source of growth and sustainability in the coffee industry. 

ኤክስፖርተር መሆን በንግድ ስራህ ላይ የሚያሳድረውን ተፅዕኖ እንዴት ነው የምትመለከቱት

How do you see the impact of being an exporter on your business? 

Before last year, exporting was a good business but as of last year the diffenrece between the price and the demandof the International/export market and the local market (the latter being more profitable) makes exporting a bit challenging. However, we can get a pre-shipment bank loan with an interest rate as low as 9%.

ቀጥሎ ምን ዓይነት ኢንቨስትመንት ለማድረግ አስበሃል

What investment do you plan to undertake next? 

I plan to expand the holdings I have today to source more coffee from other farms and washing stations for both the international and local market. My big goal is to build a complete facility that will allow me to handle the entire process, from sourcing to export, with my own resources.