From farming to hospitality businesses

BATU – Model farmers in Batu town of Oromia statehave transformed into hoteliers, thereby contributing to the developmentof the hospitality industry and tourism.

Duga Waqe Hotel owner, Mulugeta Duga, wasa farmer who had been producing vegetables and wheat before engaging in the hotel businesswith a land incentive from the government.

Previously, he used torent a farmland to produce agricultural commodities since the land he inherited from his family was not enough to expand his agricultural practices. Working with investors, Mulugeta eventually started agribusiness and becamea hotel ownerinvesting 40 million Birr in a 500 square meter land property.

He aspiredto establish an oil station. Fortunately, the city administration provided him withfreeland, with the ambition to increase the small number of hotels in the town.

The hotel business, according to Mulugeta, is lucrative beyond his expectations. It serves as an eye-opener for others to engage in the same investment. He plans to expand his agribusiness to large-scale farms, especially in dairy farming. He conveys a message for others to engage in agribusiness and maximize benefits, taking advantage of the fertile land and Lake Dembel.

The hotel has now opened job opportunities for 15 individuals, he added.

Batu Investment and Industry Office Head Nebi Gudeta said that the investment promotion works that have been done over the past three years have attracted more investment.

Today, Batu is undertaking over 79 investment projects in industry, service, hotel, and tourism sectors. Mentioning the town’s huge tourism potential, he invited investors to engage in constructing lodges, hotels, and other service facilities.

Batu’s administration has provided land for more than 40 model farmers incorporated under micro-enterprises and keen to construct hotels.

The plan is to provide reliable and quality hospitality services to people, who come to the town for conferences, sports competitions, and tourism. The administration facilitates land provision and financial incentives to the construction of infrastructures such as roads and water.

Of the ongoing development projects, 30 are operating in the business industry while some 38 projects are under construction. “What is expected from us is to support and follow-up them,” he said.

BY GIRMACHEW GASHAW

THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD SATURDAY 25 JANUARY 2025

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