Ayele Ayane is a 35-year-old farmer from Sidama region. He has six kids and worked in dairy, coffee, and cattle farming. Although working across the three sectors, he found he could only just barely earn a good income for his family.
When the Douley PLC milk company was established in the Yirgalem integrated agro-industrial park, Ayele saw an opportunity to ensure that he was one of the suppliers of fresh milk to the factory. Ayele previously sold 70 litres of milk in the local market per day, but since starting to supply for Douley milk processing company, he has expanded his farmland, converted the chat farm to grazing land for the cows, raised the number of milk cows from four to eleven, and prepared a suitable place for the cows. His hard work is now paying off, having boosted his daily milk production to 160 liters per day for the cooperatives.
Ayele also explains that he was pleasantly surprised to earn an increase in the price per litres from 25 Birr/litre to 35 Birr/litre when he began selling to Douley PLC. Ayele continues by noting “my income was about Birr 35,000, but now it is Birr 70,000. This allows me to enroll my kids in a private school, build a house in the city, and hire five local youths to help on my farm.”
With the newly established milk processing company, and a lot of hard work on his part, Ayele’s dedication to his business has paid off, and his dairy farm has become a great success. He is now one of the most successful dairy farms in the region. Not only has he been able to provide for himself and his family, but he has also been able to create jobs in the local community and contribute to the local economy.