Success Stories/Lessons Learned Template: Seizing a BEEautiful opportunity in Jimma, Ethiopia

Samuel Woldekidan, a visionary entrepreneur, recognized the immense potential of the apiculture industry in Ethiopia. Despite the country's long-standing culture of beekeeping, diverse agro-ecology, and unique natural flora ideal for beekeeping, the industry was largely underdeveloped. The majority of honey and beeswax output was sold to local honey wine shops, with a relatively small volume collected and transported to the capital city by processors. This presented a significant opportunity for Samuel to establish a honey and beeswax processing business. Samuel learned about the Ethiopia Sustainable Agribusiness Incubator (ESAI) project, which provided technical assistance to agribusiness entrepreneurs and connected smallholder farmers to global markets. The ESAI project, under Precise Consult International PLC in partnership with USAID, supported innovative private sector actors and facilitated the start-up process for entrepreneurs. Samuel saw working with the ESAI project as a great way to gain the support he needed to tap into the untouched value-added honey market and empower smallholder beekeepers in Ethiopia. With the support of ESAI, Samuel established Yerkisho Honey and Beeswax Trading PLC, the first honey and beeswax processing and exporting enterprise in Jimma. The company rented a former coffee storage warehouse, ordered processing machinery, and signed Memoranda of Understanding with organized beekeepers in Jimma and Kaffa zones. ESAI facilitated the raising of funds for Yerkisho by connecting the company to the Netherlands Development Organizations (SNV)'s Apiculture Scale-up Programme for Income and Rural Employment (ASPIRE), securing a capacity building grant of 300,000.00 ETB to train Yerkisho's beekeepers. Within a year of operations, Yerkisho sold 480 quintals in local sales and began to transform the Jimma economy and empower the local community. Samuel started to seek opportunities outside Ethiopia, attending the Biofac Trade Fair in Germany to promote his company and high-quality products. From Yerkisho's participation in the trade fair, the company secured an export contract and became a global competitor in honey and beeswax processing. Yerkisho is now a for-profit social enterprise that provides local jobs, empowers smallholder beekeepers, increases honey productivity in the region, and sells high-quality Ethiopian honey to the rest of the world. The ESAI project, financed by USAID's Feed the Future initiative, contributes to DO1 of the USAID/Ethiopia Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) – "Increased Economic Growth with Resiliency in Rural Ethiopia." The project offers business solutions to identified value chain problems in three select subsectors: sesame, honey, and dairy. Through a transparent and rigorous process, the project selects and supports entrepreneurs and/or existing companies with innovative business ideas that will contribute to the alleviation of the identified value chain issues in the three subsectors.