By Georgia Horton
A single rose takes six to eight weeks to bloom once it is planted. Caring for a flower takes not only time, but patience and care. This gradual process comes easy to workers at the Afriflora rose facility. Located near Lake Ziway in Ethiopia, this social enterprise grows over 65 species of roses and processes 3 to 4 million each day. The sheer number of roses is astonishing, but what is even more impressive is the way that Afriflora operates as a successful business while remaining focused on its impact to the community and its people.
At the heart of Afriflora’s mission are the ideals of sustainability and respect for two key components: it’s employees and the environment. Afriflora exhibits this respect by prioritizing happy employees and a clean environment over profit.
When the business started in the quiet region of Ziway in 2005, nothing else was there — there was no infrastructure, development, or obvious future for the small rose company or the area it was located in. However, just two years later, the social enterprise revolutionized the region, industry, and community.
Afriflora is involved with the European Retail Market, where they sell their roses via long-term contracts and auction sales. From this market access and other successful business opportunities, Afriflora is profitable. Afriflora is unique because rather than extracting its profit from the business, it has invested it in the community, which has produced incredible social returns.
Keeping the ideals of patience and care in mind, Afriflora started the Sher School and Sher Hospital in the Ziway region in 2007. In that same year, all of Afriflora’s employees and their families moved into the developing area. Concerning the environment, Afriflora committed itself to cutting back on chemical pesticides, recycling materials, and being a strong leader in water management by cleaning and reusing contaminated water. They also were able to build a sports stadium, local church, and establish Sher day, which is a yearly celebration for the region that focuses on community engagement.
Afriflora now employs over 11,000 individuals from local communities and provides skills and career development to every individual. The Sher School is now completely funded by Afriflora, which is uncommon for private schools in Ethiopia, and offers quality education to it’s 5,400 students. Alongside this, the Sher Hospital is equipped with trained doctors and nurses and attends to approximately 400 patients daily.
What differentiates Afriflora from other businesses is this maintenance of respect in all outlooks of their business model, including the product and components of the supply chain. Afriflora supports their employees, nearby environment, and local community in the same way they care for their millions of roses, with patience and care.
