Wally Odd is the Executive Vice President of Morrell Agro Industries, and his primary responsibility is dealing with government issues that arise. He is involved in the projects ongoing in Ethiopia were MAI employees are engaged in making things better for people in the country. He has said that there are some fantastic things happening there. Even though not all of the answers have been found for food shortage problems in Ethiopia, MAI employees are trying very hard to improve circumstances for the people there.
Government Relations
While the Ethiopian government elections were taking place in May, most of the MAI employees returned to the United States to let the elections run their course. There was a potential to run into change with the election outcomes. Positions within office could change, and new relationships could have had to be made by MAI employees for the company to continue to function properly in the country.
Compensation in Beltu
In the process of trying to work out the compensation issues in Beltu, Wally Odd has been able to meet many people in the Ethiopian government. Many different people had to be contacted to try and get the issue worked out.
Wally has met with people in the Bale and Beltu Zones and various village elders. There was a meeting in the middle of May between President Abudulla and Worknesh Gebretensay, an employee of MAI, in order to obtain more information on this issue. Because of the ongoing election, meeting times had to be moved around. Everyone is aware of the current situation and is anxious for it to be resolved.
Compensation, to the individual farmers on the property in Beltu, has been approved by the Ethiopian government three different times. Despite this, the compensation has still not been given out.
There is signed letter from both the Finance & Revenue Office and Investment Office that states that the compensation has been paid. And yet, the government team, which was to be sent to Beltu to approve the 272 famers who live there, had not yet been sent as of May 2010. Wally had been told, before he left Ethiopia that month, that the compensation had been paid. It presents a real problem for those working the Alyssa farm in Beltu when paper says “Paid” when that is, in fact, not the reality.
It is Paul Morrell’s opinion that the election will have to be settled and in the past before the compensation issue can be finalized. The ramification of this for the August 2010 planting on the farm is that the 2,000 hectares currently cleared will be the only acreage planted. More land will not be cleared until a solution is reached. Problems have already arisen due to this issue, and MAI cannot afford to add more to the mix.
This may also provide some leverage to MAI in encouraging the Ethiopian government to move forward quickly in addressing the compensation issue. MAI will not be able to move forward in the seed farm clearing until the problem is solved, and the government does not want progress there stifled. The seed farm in Beltu is seen as a step forward for Ethiopia and a way to help end famine in the country.
Update from Paul: Worknesh Gebretensay and Paul Morrell met with everyone involved in the farmers compensation issue, including President Abdulla, on July 17, 2010. The case was presented and discussed. President Abdulla made the decision to transfer funds to the Woreda immediately. Compensating the individual farmers on the property in Beltu began the next week.
Kokosa Property
In Kokosa, the issue remains to solve the measurement of the property which Morrell Agro Industries is leasing from the Ethiopian government. This issue stems from miscommunication in contracts and payments.
MAI has received, and paid for, 357 hectares of land in Kokosa. However, the contract only reflects 247 hectares, and the amount of actual property available is nearly 450 hectares. Because of these inconsistencies there is a lot of pressure on company employee Abera Chala, and others, to sort the problem out and get everything resolved.
If it is not taken care of quickly, there is possibility that the Zone may sell the other property. MAI will try to hold the government to the 357 hectares that have been paid for and to make sure that the contract reflects that amount of hectares. If for some reason this remains an issue, MAI is secure in the knowledge that 247 hectares are definitely available for company use. Nonetheless, keeping the 357 hectares, as paid, is the ideal solution.
This issue was not discovered until Abera went in to pay the company’s second payment. Red flags were raised when he saw that the contract listed 247 hectares, instead of 357 hectares. MAI then had the contract interpreted, as it was written in Oromifa. MAI employees know that 357 hectares were paid for; they have the receipt. The tact being used going forward is that someone simply wrote the amount down incorrectly.
State Department
Morrell Agro Industries has established a good solid working relationship with the U.S. Department of State.
The Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) is a Federal Advisory Committee within the State Department. OSAC works to promote security cooperation between American business, and private sector interests, worldwide and the State Department.
OSAC has recently put together a program in Ethiopia. MAI was fortunate to be able to have Wally Odd sit in on that council, with their president. He was able to obtain some beneficial contacts there. When Wally returned to the States after a visit to Ethiopia, he was able to spend some time in Washington where he met with the Executive Director and his staff at the State Department. Wally, and other MAI employees, also had a meeting with Ethiopian Ambassador Booth and the OSAC presidency where the company was officially introduced as Morrell Agro Industries.
At a previous meeting, Ambassador Booth spoke and Wally spoke as a part of OSAC. It was a great meeting, with 150 attendees including three ambassadors from other countries. About eight different industries were represented at that particular meeting. They like to lead into what businesses are involved in the organization, and by introducing MAI, the company is being put on the map.
It is Wally’s opinion that OSAC is great organization. They get a lot of focus and have a lot of influence throughout the world. He believes that someday every country will have an OSAC organization, so that there can be interplay with the American businesses operating there.
Wally said, “I really feel we’ve established MAI as a known business, with real purpose, a food security product, and a staying power in Ethiopia. As President Abudulla has said about us many times, ‘You are not just a business, you are a partner, because you have brought a solution to our famine.’”
MAI Organization
Public Relations
A Public Relations group has been established to work within all areas of the company, including security, safety, and communication. The goal is to establish a Public Relations employee at Beltu. It is important to work with the local people there. Meetings in the area have gone well, and they have been a good start to establishing working relationships in Ethiopia.
Special Operations
There are many projects going on as part of MAI that are out-of-the-box and different than what employees are used to dealing with. These projects are mainly construction and fabrication related. A Special Operations Team was created to house and drive all of these various projects. A task force of construction crew personnel and tradesmen is in the process of being put together. Engineers will also be brought on, as needed for specific projects.
Farm Operations
Tsehay Redda has been hired by MAI has a Farm Operations Manager and Advisor. She will handle all of the farm operations of the company, with the exception of Beltu. She is well established within the Ethiopian government farm operations and is a well-known commodity. She is very knowledgeable and should be a great asset to MAI.
Tsehay will work with other MAI employees in various locations throughout Ethiopia, as a liaison between employees on different MAI farms, various organizations, and the Ethiopian government. It is her goal to help increase the productivity of MAI farms and to make sure that information gets where it needs to go.
Private Business Sector
American Chamber of Commerce in Ethiopia
The American Chamber of Commerce in Ethiopia was established to promote economic development in Ethiopia and to strengthen business partnerships, trade, and investment between the two countries.
The association is currently functioning well in Addis Ababa. Wally Odd has been able to meet with the association’s director on several occasions. There is a strong political interest in the United States in this chamber of commerce organization. They want it to function and to work.
MAI has been asked to help this organization in their efforts and to get involved in the chamber of commerce. They are just getting off the ground, and they know that MAI is established in Ethiopia. Paul Morrell said, “There is only one American company in Ethiopia, that’s us, so it is just getting started.”
Corporate Council on Africa
The Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) is a new organization, established in 1993, that Wally Odd has been introduced to, and he was able to meet with them in Washington DC. He passed the information he gathered there to Paul Morrell, and the decision was made to become involved in organization’s efforts.
The council was formed to help strengthen and facilitate commercial relationships between the United States and Africa, while working to improve trade and investment in the continent. They put out a book every year that contains a lot of information on projects going on in Africa.
Two of the main areas in which CCA focuses their efforts are Agribusiness and HIV/AIDS & Health, the latter which includes water purification. In October, one of their workshops is “Creating Foundation for Wellness of Business Innovations for Water Sanitation.” They also work with infrastructure and business linkages. All of these things interest MAI in one way or another.
If MAI can get involved in this organization, it could be very beneficial, especially if presidential backing is gained. Wally mentioned some of Paul’s background and company interests to the CCA when he met with them. They have expressed great interest in the dry seed farming that MAI is currently working with in Ethiopia.
Opportunity in Ethiopia
Paul Morrell has asked Wally Odd to begin working with businesses in the United States. If the opportunities that are available in Ethiopia are discussed in the US, new interest can be generated. He literally doesn’t know of another American business in Ethiopia. There are Chinese, Indians, Arabs, and others working in the country, but none from the US.
The opportunities are unlimited in Ethiopia. There is an enormous amount of cheap labor, an enormous amount of land, the climate is good, and the security is good. It is a great opportunity to get involved in business in the country. Business and opportunity will grow in this area, and it will open up even more opportunities for MAI. One opportunity begets another.
Paul said, “Frankly, it’s the opportunity of at least the next ten or fifteen years…It’s the greatest opportunity in the world, in my opinion.”
Wally Odd will start spending more of his time in Washington DC, more time in the United States beating the drum about the opportunities in Ethiopia. From time to time, additional MAI employees will join him at conferences to help with particular issues.
At an OSAC conference in Addis Ababa, Wally met a man who had planted over a million trees in Ethiopia. He had a letter from President Obama saying “Thank you,” but someone had to tell the president what was happening. Somewhere along the line, MAI will have to be good at telling their story, as well.
Wells
The location of the Beltu well has been moved. While drilling the well, it stuck. But, if MAI can get culinary water out at the farm, that would be great.
At the second well, there have also been problems drilling for water. A storm washed away the road that leads to the well. Water could not be obtained because the well’s location could not be reached.
It is critical that MAI go ahead with the wells in Beltu and to get them in a functioning condition. They should be completed soon.
The wells in Kokosa have been completed, but they have been drilled within the MAI property boundaries. The pumps have not yet arrived in Kokosa.
Village of Hope
Although the Village of Hope in Kersa Illala is not necessarily a part of Morrell Agro Industries, many MAI employees have been a part of the organization’s efforts. Issues there are still being worked out, and the first planning phase of the VOH has been completed.
Onions and other crops have been planted on the property, and they are doing very well.