By Manoah Esipisu
ADY NIFFAS, Eritrea, June 21 (Reuters) - In a tragic spin-off to the Horn of Africa's latest war, cattle are feasting on the fruits of Ronen Ilan's seven years of labour.
In the hilly village of Ady Niffas, just outside the Eritrean capital of Asmara, Ilan, a 52-year-old Israeli, offers his cattle a meal of the carnations that he can no longer export to the lucrative European market.
``I thought these countries -- Eritrea and Ethiopia -- would never fight because their leaders have always been together,'' Ilan told Reuters, his head bowed in defeat. ``It was not in my business calculations.
``I am feeling a little tired right now. I have lost seven years of extremely hard work. I came here when there were no foreigners. I started from scratch. Now it is scratch again.''
Ilan is bitter about the conflict that pits Eritrea -- Africa's youngest nation, which formally became independent in 1993 -- against former ally Ethiopia. Hundreds of people have died in ground battles and air raids between the two countries since a simmering border conflict turned exploded on May 6.
Ilan, whose silver hair and stained, blistered hands attest to his long hours on the farm, arrived in Eritrea from an Israeli kibbutz in 1991. He worked at first as a fisherman but then put his agricultural training to use.
His 30-hectare (74.1-acre) farm at Ady Niffas is unique in Eritrea -- the only venture producing carnations and fruits for export from a country whose population is dominated by peasant farmers.
Ilan set it up with 11 million nakfa ($1.49 million) in loans from the government in 1991, immediately after the collapse of the former Marxist regime in Ethiopia. He contributed 20 percent in personal equity and was the ambitious scheme's chief designer, manager, ``everything.''
Agricultural exports account for a tiny proportion of Eritrea's foreign exchange earnings and Ilan's produce made up a large percentage of that proportion. Because of his success with the first farm, he had just started on a 200-hectare extension.
Ilan, a veteran of Israel's 1967 Six-Day War, had contracts in the Netherlands, Britain and Germany for his flowers -- but has lost these since the conflict cut Eritrea's air links with the world.
Tit-for-tat air raids by Ethiopia and Eritrea early in June led to the cancellation of commercial flights to the Eritrean capital Asmara, making it impossible for Ilan's prized carnations to reach the European market.
Some 30 percent of Ilan's produce was exported to Ethiopia and this market, too, has gone.
``We were already having difficulty and flight delays were proving costly,'' Ilan said.
``But with the eruption of the conflict, we cannot export anything. There are no flights. The European summer supermarket contract has now gone to someone else.
``I am not a politician. I am a farmer. I only understand that I have to export my produce,'' he told Reuters.
Ilan employs up to 600 people on the farm -- mostly women, but some of their men also help cultivate the carnations.
When the air strikes began on June 5, Ilan had just brought a supply of flower stems and trees from Israel to start the new farm, which is situated just 400 metres (1,320 feet) from the Asmara airport runway. He has spent the last two weeks planting them.
The airport farm was made available by Eritrean President Isayas Afewerki in appreciation of the good results from the Ady Niffas project. Ilan, together with some local farmers, has secured loan finance for the project.
``We have started with $1.5 million. In a couple of months we will see what progress we are making. But I am not running away from this place,'' said Ilan, who is divorced and whose father and three children still live in Israel.
He said his latest problems came just when an earlier fight with Ethiopia had been resolved.
When Eritrea introduced its own currency, the Nakfa, in November, Ethiopia demanded letters of credit in dollars for any trade between them. Such letters of credit take up to four months to secure.
``Buyers lost the season from November and plans for sales were ruined. They had just finally secured the letters,'' added Ilan.
``These two peoples have fought together. They know what they have lost, they know what they are losing. I can only hope that they put a stop to this fighting soon.
``Ady Niffas means a place of winds. I call the carnations windy flowers. I may have to call them ruiny flowers,'' he said.