Afri Flower lies in a secluded area five kilometres away from the main roads of Holeta, an area referred to as Wajetu Harbo Kebele by its inhabitants. There is barely any movement on the rough road leading to the farm, which sits at 2,300m above sea level, a strategic location chosen by the founders to produce better breeds of roses.

Sentayehu Kebede, general manager of Afri Flower, travels about 100Km to work every day from and to his home in Qality.

"I spend at least three hours a day on the road," he said, expressing that his frustration lies mostly with the quality of the road rather than the length.

Afri Flower, established in December 2013, is surrounded by farmlands that cultivate eucalyptus, barley, teffand wheat. Inside the farms, workers can be witnessed rushing about harvesting roses and other plants. Farm managers and supervisors communicate through walkie-talkies so as not to trouble themselves with the untenable mobile network in the area.

Sentayheu recalls the episode in the farm's not-so-distant past when sales were heavily bruised by the onset of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Afri Flower was among the floriculture heavyweights that was hit by the pandemic early on, even before the first case was reported in the country on March 13, 2020. Since January of that year, players in the industry were in shock at what was unfolding, as markets in Europe and Asia, the major export destinations for Ethiopian flowers, were shutting down in the hopes of preventing a health crisis.

However, unlike in the case of many others, the industry was saved from crumbling by a quick response from the government with the added efforts of the Ethiopian Horticulture Producers Exporters Association. Things are now looking up for the industry, which employs more than 200,000 people, with the all-important Valentine's Day season promising a return to the heights of pre-COVID-19 days.

Just about a year ago, multiple farms were reporting that they were burning down unsold items, and flowers that had been exported were similarly incinerated at their destinations for lack of recipients.

Afri Flower was one of the victims of the fiery phenomenon. The producer, whose parent company BellaFlor Group also operates floriculture farms in Ecuador, faced a shocking 20pc drop in sales revenues in January and February 2020, as the world was going into turmoil.

The company employees about 500 individuals and mainly cultivates standard roses, spray roses and gypsophila.

Sentayehu explains that the farm produces 32 varieties of roses year-round on five hectares of land and gypsophila on 10ha.

The company managed to hold onto its employees, who hail mostly from the neighbouring Holeta and Addis Alem areas, during the crisis. One of them, Jifare Dejene, a 23-year-old woman, can be found working in the packaging room at Afri Flower where flowers are cut and wrapped before being transferred to a freezing room where products are stored before being packaged for shipping.

The employees, mostly women, spend their days standing in rows, handling the delicate flowers under the watch of Ethiopian and Ecuadorian supervisors.

Jifare is paid 70 Br a day.

"It was lower when I started out," she said.

The company incentivises employees with a monthly bonus, transportation service and two meals a day. Jifare and her colleagues had long been observing the strict COVID-19 preventive measures enforced at Afri Flower, such as working every other day, wearing masks and social distancing. However, things have now changed, and permanent employees are working five days a week.

The company sells directly to its customers instead of taking part in auctions, unlike many other floriculturists. Much of Afri Flower's business comes from the Middle East with some also stemming from China and Japan. However, demand does not spike in the Middle Eastern market during the Valentine's Day season; and be that as it may, the company observes up to 20pc more orders during the season from its direct global market. However, 2020 was not like any other year.

According to Sentayehu, the company suffered a 20pc decline in sales in 2020, earning slightly over 83 million Br in contrast to 2019's sales of 108.7 million Br.

He added that so far in 2021, the company had generated 11.2 million Br.

The flower export market is one of the cornerstones of the country's foreign currency earnings. Ethiopia is the fourth largest flower exporter in the world following Colombia, Ecuador and Kenya, a remarkable achievement for the 15-year-old industry. Over the past five years, the industry has generated more than 1.6 billion dollars, according to a report from the Association.

Despite the hurdles, the export revenues from floriculture surged by 64.6pc over the previous fiscal year, according to the central bank's annual report. This tremendous growth, which is unmatched in the realm of exports, is attributed to a 63.2pc increase in export volume and an almost one percent rise in international price levels. This is a big leap in contrast to the previous year's growth, which stood at 12.3pc. The half-year report from the Ministry of Agriculture states that the horticulture sector has generated 240 million dollars so far this fiscal year.

As soon as the effects of the pandemic were undeniable, the Association lobbied to get support from the government and a disaster was averted with the collaboration of the Ministry of Agriculture, according to Yemisrach Berhanu, promotion & information head at the Association.

As part of the measures enacted, producers were allowed to borrow working capital from banks. The primary aim was to allow the companies to maintain their workforce and avert an employment crisis that could have affected the whole country. The producers were also granted a debt grace period, and a quick return of their value-added tax was issued.

Sentayehu explains that although much of the export distribution mechanism has been made conducive, their business still faces challenges in terms of power interruptions and shortages in the supply of sugar, which is used to enhance the opening of flower buds after harvest.