“Elabered farm is a unique place not only in Eritrea but also from the whole Africa”
(Mr. Morgan Hoff General Manager of Elabered Estate)


You need only to travel about 68-km north-west of Asmara in order to reach Elabered Estate. When you come near the village of Elabered you pass along a narrow road bordered with flowers that stretches for fifty meters and on the right side there is place where the Anseba River and the Balwa River flow.

These streams are diverted in seven dams in order to satisfy the water requirements of the farm. When you arrive at the gate of the farm you see the signboard of Elabered Estate and when you get inside you get inspired by the beauty of the place with a huge duma tree, garage and well equipped guest house and the natural vegetation.

Being at the Outskirts of Elabered, Elabered Estate has a moderate climate and an elevation of about 1.400-1.500 meters above sea level. It is an integrated farming system having different agricultural production such as fruits(orange, lemon, mandarins, mango and cistard apples) vegetables(potato, green and sweet pepper, egg plant, zucchini, green beans, lollo Rosso, lollo Biando, endive, oak leaf, Fennel, leek, curled parsley, sweet melon, celery stick and raddish) processed milk, livestock and other products.

Our tour guide Ato Seleba Kahesay the Administrator of Elabered Estate showed us all the 1200 hectare within the Elabered Estate of which 300 hectares are arable land. The rest of the land is occupied by houses of workers, ponds, and dams which contain cat fish and other animals. while the remaining is covered with trees, vegetation and grass during rainy season.

According to Ato Selebe Kahesay, a researcher from University of Asmara has found out that more than 100 different species of birds exist in the Elabered Estate. Elabered is not only a farm area but also a tourist site.

In describing the place the General Manager of Elabered Estate Mr. Morgan Hoff said, “When I came in 1996 to do a general study of sustainable farming, I came in touch with the beautiful farm in Elabered and I was very enthusiastic because I have never seen a place like this in my whole life as an agricultural consultant."

One of the amazing things about Elabered Estate is the underground pipeline which stretches for about 236-Km which was built during its establishment as a private sector by an Italian entrepreneur named De-Nadai. It started as a highly developed mechanized farm with citrus fruits as the main production including livestock, dairy product, tomato paste and wine.

At present the Elabered farm has upgraded its dairy factory by introducing new machinery from Norway. Out of 650 cows they have about 300 milking cows. In explaining the reason for the crowd of people in their dairy shops, the Marketing Manager Ato Kidane Melles said that it is difficult to satisfy the expected public demand of 50,000 litters per day because what we produce is only 3,000 litters per day.

He also added that in order to stabilize the market and to minimize exploitation by businessmen the organization sells directly to the consumers.

Other livestock production of Elabered Estate is the out-door swine (pig) area. The Estate which has about 1300 pigs delivers pork to different hotels and restaurants.

Elabered Estate is in a transition from a traditional to a modern system of irrigation and water management. It is introducing new technologies like the drip, micro, mini, and overhead sprinkler system.

Many people say that the Elabered Estate is in ruins because the area along the road where the orange trees used to grow is now barren. But from what I have observed and from the words of the general manager the farm is being revived through the replanting of new trees with different kinds of fruits. Some of the newly replanted trees have already started to give fruits.

At this time vegetable is the main export item. The Marketing manager of Elabered Estate said that the vegetables that are exported can compete with other countries like South America, California, Mexico, Europe, Australia, Egypt, and Holland. As a result the demand for vegetables in the Saudi market is increasing.

The Elabered Agro Industrial Estate was nominated for the International World Quality Commitment (WQC) star award in the Gold category held in Paris 2003, by the International selection Committee of Business initiative directions (B.I.D) during its 20th international convention in Europe .The B.I.D gives awards to different companies in the gold, platinum and diamond categories for commitment to quality.