HONIARA Central Market is arguably the biggest watermelon selling point in the county. Melon farmers from Guadalcanal and other neighboring provinces congregate every day at the market selling the wonder fruit for thousands of Honiara residents.
And at the heart of Honiara City’s popular market sits a local woman farmer, Ellen Bula, from the nearby – Savo Island, Central province. As many other farmers, Ellen farmed the mouth watering melons thanks to the convenient market and high demand of the produce from local customers in Honiara.
Solomon Women recently managed to meet Ellen and asked how she ventured into the business of farming and selling watermelons at the Market.
“I chose to sell my watermelons at the Honiara Central Market because the demand for water melon is very high among local customers in Honiara,” she said.
Mrs Bula is from the province of Malaita but has resided at her husband’s home village at Savo Island.
“I have been farming and selling watermelons for more than 7 years. It has become a form of business to financially meet the basic needs and wants of my immediate family. I usually transported my produce from Savo to Honiara by an outboard motor engine.
“I chose to sell watermelons because the method of farming is quite easy for me. The task to cultivate and transplant watermelon seedlings into the garden farm is stress-free,” she said.
The hardworking mother of five children says her main aim to venture into the agricultural business was to support the education of her children.
“The reason I started my small business was to ensure my children obtain quality education. The high cost of living in the rural setting has triggered me to work extra harder in order to assist my children with their school fees,” she said.
One major challenge when she initially started her farming business was the expense of transporting her produce to Honiara.
“Since the initial establishment of the business, I did not have any outboard motor to transport my produce to Honiara. I had to accumulate high expense on the cost of transportation – for instance – I had to hire a boat $1000 to transport my watermelons from Savo to Honiara.
“The situation had triggered me to work extra harder. I later managed to expand my garden farm to increase more income and profit to sustain my business and to meet future business goals,” she said.
Mrs Bula has now managed to buy an outboard motor to transport her watermelons to the Honiara Central Market.
She encouraged potential women living in rural areas to take on the challenge of venturing into the small-scale agricultural business.
“I want encourage women to start think seriously on the benefits of starting a agriculture business. All you need to do is trust yourself and focus on your aim and objective that you want to achieve,” she said.
Ellen says she is now happy with her achievements and is now looking forward in achieving more of her family goals in the future.
