This article recaps the podcast episode about Eskender Yoseph and his journey to create Anan Agro Processing, a sustainable and comprehensive dairy farm in Ethiopia. It explores his early days, building his farm from scratch, the challenges he faced, and his vision for the future of farming in the country.

From Childhood Dream to Farming Passion

Eskender Yoseph was different from most kids raised in Addis Abeba. While his classmates dreamt of becoming doctors and lawyers, he was mocked for dreaming of becoming a farmer, living a life of taking care of the animals and the land. Despite facing ridicule, he kept his dream alive, working hard at his computer science degree until he made the shift to the agricultural sector. 

The shift came when he assisted his father with a catering operation at the Gelgel Gibe 3 dam project, the third largest hydroelectric dam in Africa with a capacity to generate 1,870 megawatt of power. Eskender ended up staying longer to help his father out on the catering operations. 

Daily, they faced the pressure of preparing meals to feed up to 3000 employees working on the dam, working tirelessly to meet their immense supply needs, even taking on risky routes to reach the markets. Eskender recalls a particular encounter he had on the occasion of the Easter holiday. When returning to camp from the market, he got a flat tire in the dead of the night, almost lost his vehicle, came very close to being attacked by warthogs /ከርከሮ/, and nearly bled to death in the middle of nowhere. Despite this extreme situation, Eskender persevered to find his way to safety and didn’t deter from working on the catering business. 

Now, understanding the realities of large-scale food production, him and his father took out a loan of 9 million ETB to take over the catering contract for the camp. One of the strategies they implemented is choosing cows as an affordable source of beef, these cows had to be approved by the safety department prior to the butchering, otherwise they were kept on camp to provide milk. Through time, the number of cows spared increased from 4 to 40, triggering the idea to start an on-site dairy farm which provides fresh milk, yogurt and butter to the camp.

Early Challenges and Perseverance

The challenges didn’t end there. His initial venture into dairy farming at the Gibe 3 site was interrupted by a violent burst of Trypanosomiasis, a disease transmitted by mosquitoes, which decimated his cattle and resulted in significant financial losses amounting up to 2 million ETB. Through the ups and downs, he remained in Gibe 3 and secured another catering contract, this time for 250+ project executives, allowing him to recover financially and relocate his farm to Addis Ababa. 

Inspiration and Innovation

On a personal level, Eskender fell more in love with farming when doing research, visiting foreign countries and encountering social media famous farmers who showed that farming is cool and intellectually challenging rather than a labor intensive low-skill job. He was also blown away by the success of large-scale dairy farms in Saudi Arabia, such as Almarai Company, Eskender realized the potential for dairy farming in Ethiopia. Almarai has been one of Saudi’s leading dairy companies despite facing harsh desert conditions. He recognized that poor cattle management was a major obstacle for local dairy farms and set out to create a self-sufficient and productive system. He highlights that “the combination of the country’s diverse ecosystem and the available variety of cattle is a recipe for Ethiopia to be a number one dairy producer in Africa”.

Anan Agro Processing prioritizes animal welfare: providing its cows ample feed (cows are fed 12 times a day), water, a spacious resting place and a time dedicated to socializing. This approach has enabled the farm to achieve high milk yields of 61 liters per head, supplying local processors like Hawassa University, Yirgalem Milk, and Shola Milk with 1500 to 2000 liters of milk per day.

Addressing Systemic Challenges in the Dairy Value Chain

Eskender identifies key challenges within the Ethiopian dairy sector:

• Fragmented distribution: The majority of milk distribution is handled by small-scale, household producers, limiting market reach and efficiency. Especially in rural areas, their reach is limited as they either don’t have the quantity or means of transport to expand their reach.

•  Feed scarcity: Larger farms often struggle with inconsistent access to quality feed, impacting milk production to the point of discontinuing production. Anan Farms addresses this by utilizing a combination of dry forage and concentrated maize feed, which they produce themselves.

• Quality control and branding:  Incidents of adulterated milk have eroded consumer trust. Eskender advocates for branding milk products to ensure quality and traceability. He confirms that milk producers have to abide by specific standards when supplying the market, otherwise their selling price is affected.

• Limited financial support: Farmers lack access to tailored financial services, hindering investment in equipment, infrastructure, and technology. The perception of farmers as “less than capable” has created a vicious loop.

Sustainable Practices and Future Vision

Anan Farms is committed to sustainability.  Eskender implemented a waste-to-energy system, converting cow manure into biogas for heat and power generation. The byproduct of this process is then used as fertilizer, creating a closed-loop system.  His ultimate goal is to create an entirely off-grid farm. His feed operations are equally an important part of the future for Anan Agro Processing. The farm aims to produce 9 million kilograms of feed and create feed lots during their expansion.

Beyond his own operations, Eskender aims to transform perceptions of farming. He actively shares his knowledge by engaging regularly on Anan’s Facebook page, and plans to establish an academy to train young farmers in modern techniques.  His vision extends to becoming a leading dairy farm in East Africa, leveraging Ethiopia's resources and potential.  Eskender's dedication to innovation, sustainability, and empowering the next generation of farmers positions Anan Agro Processing as a model for the future of dairy farming in Ethiopia.