Twenty three year-old Abdisa Dereje and his two colleagues, Nuredin Kemal and Zeynu Negussie, survive on the edge of the knife, and now they have started working on their orders a week ahead of Easter, when their sharp equipment will bring quick end to the lives of countless holiday delicacies.
“As the holiday is just a few days away, we have started receiving orders and we literally started the work today,” said Abdisa as Fortune visited their four-by-four workshop at the heart of Shola Gebeya near Megenagna on April 6, 2015.
And thus comes an end to a two-month hiatus when the demand was so low that they had to seek other labour employment to make ends meet.
The three of them were busily working forging piece of metal into different kinds of knives in the age-old tradition– a tradition which could academically be traced to the 14th century, while their customers waited outside to walk off with “hot knives”.
These young artisans came from Woliso, 114Km west of Addis Abeba. They had some division of labour in their workshop, with Nuredin managing the forge, keeping the charcoal aflame with his two bellows made of inner tube of car tyres. He operated the two bags, one held in each hand, alternatively filling them up and squeezing them alternatively.
Nuredin passes the red-hot metals to Abdisa, who shapes them with his hammer and anvil, with sweat trickling down his face. Old and new knives, as well as some axes filled the small workshop.
“I am responsible for giving the first shape of each knife; making a wooden handle for each knife and finally attaching them by creating a hole in the handle and connecting the two using a metal ring,” he said.
The handles are made from young eucalyptus branches – otherwise, it will not last long, Abdissa says.
In order to make knives, they mostly use two kinds of metal scrap – those left over from construction works, such as re-bars, or discarded vehicle leaf springs which they buy from Mercato’s Menalesh Tera. Those knives made from leaf springs are much more durable, says
Zeynu Negussie, the third person of the team, whose job is to file each product coming from Abdissa’s hammer and anvil.
They buy leaf springs for20 Br to 25 Br a kilo, while other kinds of scrap irons they buy for about 10 Br to 12 Br, the price varying or the thickness of the metal.’
As the holiday is approaching, many come to file old knives, for three Birr each, or to get new ones from the stock that they have for as little as 10 Br or more. Axes sell for at least 50 Br, while they make four Birr from changing the handles of knives.
There were 15 old knives that they had filed and other new ones, which they had just made when Fortune visited. At the same time Fortune learnt that the same kinds of knives made from either leaf springs or other kinds of scrap irons sold for 25 Br up to 30 Br by street vendors in Addis Abeba; these knives came from Wolliso.
At Industry Sefer, the new name of what has been traditionally known as Lomi Meda at Atana Tera, in Kolfe Keranio Disitrct, one sees what Abdissa and his friends are doing on a much larger scale and in a better way. Feke Metal Work Enterprise, an SME, is located in the middle of several other wood and metal workshops.
Abrar Jemal and his seven co-workers have been working here for the past 10 years, after the district gave them the working space. They are more diversified in terms of products, which include not only knives but also farming tools. However, as the holiday is looming, it seems that almost all workers were focused on producing knives.
“Since last week, we have been receiving orders for new knives and residents around here have been coming either to buy new ones or to hone their old knives,” said Aberar. “Our largest order started last Friday April 3, 2015, from a hotel. We received an urgent order for 38 knives. We have almost finished making them, and we sell the knives for 15 Br to 20 Br.”
Another customer came with 30 knives to be honed while Fortune was in the workshop.
Like Abdi and his friend, they collect their raw materials from Marekato. They could make 15 small knives from a kilo of scrap metal, or five big knives. After making their knives, they are left with their own scraps which are sold to factories.
Abrar and his friends have a much larger and more modern workshop considered to the small and ramshackle workshop run by Abdissa and his friends. They even have piston bellow which works with electricity that they bought for 2,500 Br.
“It is fast compared to the traditional tools and saves more time,” said Aberar.
They are one of the 14,033 SME established in Addis Abeba. Kolfe Keranio District alone has 1,826 enterprises working on manufacturing, trade, service, construction and urban agriculture. Keke’s is one of 598 who are involved in manufacturing.
The days leading up to the Easter holiday on Sunday mean more business every day both for the larger enterprise at Lomi Meda, or Industry Sefer, and the smaller workshop in Shola Gebeya
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