Profiles in Profit: Busu Gelato - Ethiopia
by Lewis Temple - IDE UK
Busu and her family live near Lake Ziway in the heart of the Rift Valley, four hours’ drive south of Addis Ababa . Busu has a 400 square metre plot of land and, before hearing about IDE, she grew beans once a year after the rainy season, generally earning a maximum of $50 from selling any surplus her family did not need to eat. Often, when the rains failed, Busu would be forced to sell her family’s assets to buy grain for food – for example, they had to sell their valuable oxen two years ago during a drought.
Eight months ago, Busu bought a treadle pump for $55 from a local manufacturer IDE had introduced to the area. The IDE team also advised her on what kinds of vegetables to grow and how and where to market them.
Already Busu has grown two cycles of vegetables on her irrigated land. The first cycle, she grew tomatoes and onions which gave her an income of $185 and for her second cycle she also grew chili pepper and earned an income of $280.
When asked what she planned to do with her new income – Busu demonstrated her entrepreneurial drive: she has already purchased two donkeys and a cart which she rents out at $8 a day to local villagers on the two market days each week, potentially giving her a further $750 income a year.
Busu has four children of school age and they are now all going to school as a result of the family’s increased income.