(ERGO) – After searching for work for two years, Osman Hassan Abdullahi found he was far better off starting his own local business in the Somali town of Beletweyne than relying on his university degree as a ticket to employment.
Osman, 38, has started a fruit shop he has called ‘Motivate the Farmers’ that sells fresh fruit and juices made with produce from local Beledweyne farms, including bananas, carrots, oranges, mangoes, papaya, guavas, and melons.
He makes around $100-$200 a day and the standard of living has improved for his large family of two wives and 10 children. Despite drinks sales decreasing in the cold season, he is pleased with the growth of his young business.
As a graduate from Plasma university in Beletweyne with a degree in business management, he had assumed he would be working for someone else. But he is now the boss of five young employees and he regularly buys fresh produce from over 30 local farmers.
“I buy fruit every day and pay the farmers immediately. Fruit like mangoes and cantaloupe melons we buy weekly,” said Osman.
Dalmar Nuriow Dahir, a high school student, works part-time at ‘Motivate the Farmers’ after his morning classes, using his farming experience to order fresh produce and to deal with the farmers. He also manages the store. He used to earn about $5 a day riding a motorbike, which broke down leaving him jobless for five months. Now he can pay for his studies and support his widowed mother.
“I am the firstborn in my family, I started working when my father died,” Dalma said. “I gave $60 to my mother out of the $120 I earned last month and also paid $16 for my school fees, while the rest is for my upkeep.”
Osman pay $2-$5 to his other workers who prepare the juices and package fruit for sale.
Local farmer Elmi Abdi Mohamed, who has three hectares of land in Damalow, six km north of Beletweyne, sells bananas, papayas, carrots and mangoes to Osman’s shop, making $60 a day.
“Before I used to bring the fruit to the market to sell myself until 9 am. Most of it used to go bad but now I bring it all here and get paid immediately,” explained Elmi, a father of seven, supporting two of his children at university.
