growing roses for export for the last 14 years.
But now the speed of the global downturn is forcing them to give up the business, threatening the livelihoods of hundreds of workers and their dependents.
The sudden collapse of the prices paid for roses in Europe, due to diminishing demand and oversupply, has made their business uneconomic.
And they are being forced to sell their farm as they can no longer keep up their loan payments to Barclays Bank, which is demanding immediate repayment.
” It’s a sad day,” says Angelique Elsinga as she walks round her farm with its eight giant greenhouses – which produced 40 million roses for export last year.
“It’s cheaper for us to destroy the roses now than send them to Europe.”
They are shutting off the irrigation pipes in seven of those greenhouses, growing only for the local market and switching some of their production to vegetables.
“We had to shut down production during the two weeks before Christmas, something we had never done before,” said Watze Elsinga.
“And just before Valentine’s Day, our suppliers told us not to send any more roses – their warehouses were full.”
“We have never seen such low prices.”
Social gains
For the Elsingas, who came to Zambia from the Netherlands 14 years ago, the farm was a social enterprise as well as a business.
They have constructed housing for their workers, and built a community centre and a school for 600 children on the premises.
And they have provided year-round employment for nearly 200 workers.
Now they will have to lay off all the workers at the rose farm, with only a few finding employment in the vegetable business which they hope to continue at another location.
Difficult conditions
According to Luke Mbewe, chief executive of the Zambia Export Growers Association (Zega), flower exporters in Zambia face more difficult conditions than their rivals in other African countries such as Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.
Flower exporters are dependent on a secure supply chain, with the fresh flowers kept refrigerated and disease-free as they are moved quickly from the farm to markets in Europe within 48 hours.
But in Zambia, transport costs are higher, because of the higher cost of petrol and jet fuel that has to be imported into this land-locked country.
And the lack of a substantial scheduled air freight service has meant that they have had to charter flights to take their flowers to market.
They have also faced problems with electricity supply, with Zambia’s government-owned electricity company Zesco introducing rolling power cuts throughout the country over the past year.
The sharp drop in the value of the Zambian currency has raised the cost of fertilisers, fuel and other farm inputs.
Mr Mbewe says he knows of a number of other farms that have gone out of production, and he now fears for the future of the industry.
Economic hopes
Zambia remains one of the world’s poorest countries, with more than 60% of the population living on less than $2 a day.
Now its prospects for economic growth have been dented by the decline in the world price of copper, which makes up 90% of the country’s exports and provides thousands of jobs.
Zambia’s President, Rupiah Banda, says that the way for Zambia to cope with the global recession is by diversification, moving away from dependence on copper.
But the problems of the flower industry show how difficult this could be.
[BBC NEWS]
Well, simply diversify to other products and keep the workers employed. I see no rush why winding up it up.
A dynamic problem needs dynamic approach. The diversification is the key but should be linked to other sectors that facilitate trade. Our transport faces high costs due high duties on fuel, the use of relatively expense modes of transport such road network over railway (which is cheaper). Lack of an effiecienct avaition sector, as well the inefficiency of the energy sector. We need serious group of people to head such sectors with the view to make them efficient. Therefore simpilcity can not be the approach, however, this should not be an excuse not to imporve these sectors, it is very much doable.
i feel for the affected employees, this is a very sad development
When they made a lot of money in good times they never divesified to take care of lean years. This is a lesson to all of us to save in good times to care of us in bad times. please diversify to save the Zambians working on your farm, i know there is no pension to talk about for them. I really feel for you. God bless your investment.
let the govt see to it that he company doesnt collapse we will alot of people to the street
Diversification depends on innovative ideas. The current world economic status affects all.Let Zambia grow more food to feed its people.60% of the population living on less than $2 a day is a very serious matter.
How do you diversify when the bank is asking for money now.
That’s like saying you want to stay in your rented house after the end of the month when you don’t have a job to pay the next month.
Might make them an offer for the hothouses….fill them up with hydro chumba.
He was talking about the economy generally – not entreating the rose growers to diversify.
This development (as negative as it is) is not happening for the first time. I am not hearing this word “diversification” for the first time. It is the first long term that I learn while in Kindergarten in Zambia (Mufulira)!! Kaunda used it everytime he was commenting on the copper situation. At that time the prices of Copper were more favourable than today. The only thing I could associate the word “diversification” with was the attempt my mother was making in changing the relish for the Nshima. Surprisingly I never asked why the Nshima still remained and we just kept on switching from kapenta to chicken and then some Mulembwe and so on. One week later we would get back to the Kapenta…
Continued…
and when the Kapenta stayed for more that three days we would start complaining. Sometimes very silently by just rolling the Nshima in our hands for 5 minutes without deeping it into the Kapenta. What am trying to say is Zambia has a lot of resources and they are just waiting to be ultilized. There is plenty that we can grow to feed our own people and as we grow more we also provide jobs for many. There was a talk of emeralds around the Kitwe area and I wonder what happended to those. It seems to me that only the Senegalese and Nigerians knew how to get profits from those. There is little that the Government does to promote Fishery.
Continued…. The only thing they are good at is increasing the fees for those involved in fishery.The present government is not the first one to know the theory above that Mr Mbewe is uttering!! Kaunda, Mwanawasa, FTJ and RB are of the same generation and they do not luck theory. The know-how is there but implemetation is a disease that has come to stay. Sometimes it makes me feel as if no one is responsible for the mess we are in. 60% of the population on 2USD a day? Very sad indeed.
Sad development indeed. RB you are right but you have got to work hard on fixing the transport network as quickly, efficiently and effectively as possible
Why cant they try to grow edible staff.
The dream of a developing zambia will remain but a fleeting illusion, to be pursued but never attained. How can this dream be attained when shop -right only sells SA produce ?. Zamba is nothing but a suppermarket for SA goods. If the south african farmers dont produce enough for export to zambian shops, they source produce in Bots to sell in their outlets in Zambia at the expence of zed farmers. . They are now even starting to suppy markets with Veg.
Dull *****s. Foe allowing this to happen in our back yard unedr our noses , we deserve to remain poor, poor and humiliated.
I agree Jamaco. Diversification is not a new phenomenon, and I would like to see what plans the MMD has to start facilitating it. This recession provides us with a brilliant opportunity to improve our infrastructure and divert our resources from mining into other fledgling areas, particularly agriculture. People still need to eat in this recession. Roses will not suffice but Zambia can ramp up its economy by encouraging vegetable/ fruit/ seed plantations. That might be one way to help the Dutch couple out of this predicament as well – rather than letting all their efforts and infrastructure go to waste.
Ba RB diversification is not a new concept we need to hear the progress on diversification and not “we need to diversify”.
like we have done this to improve the energy sector,, or we have signed a deal to import cheaper fuel or process it cheaply, that is what we want to hear RB.
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