Understanding the Business Model of Farming.

It is rather unfortunate that most people see farming in this part of the world as an occupation for the illiterates and school drop out. Some see it as an occupation meant for aged people in the rural community. The benefits of farming is far beyond who is involved in it but rather, how can it become a business that brings about sales and profit generation. This is not to say that there are no challenges involved, because there are but as an investor seeking out ways to reduce these challenges should be one of your concerns.

1. What are the numbers involved? You need to know the production quality and quantity of produce or animal husbandry you want to get involved in. Its not all about planting vegetables or rearing catfish, because someone says its a good business. It finally comes down to number and how much you were able to turnaround. A business may look good and still not have prospect for growth or profitability. That's one of the hiccups in agriculture, it is  a business of volume and numbers. It would be very challenging to break even just cultivating one plot of land as compared to another investor who cultivates over 1  hectare of land using same crop.
2. Crude Implements and Modern equipments: The use of hoe and cutlass is still a common method of farming here in this part of the world. There is a limit to the number of plots the hoe and cutlass can be used, even in the clearing of weeds. This primitive method, not only wastes time, it delays the planting period of crops and also results to a waste of productive man hours. When compared to the use of small mechanised equipments like the mini tractor for tilling the soil, the results gotten are different. In considering agriculture as a business model, then the thoughts of using hoe and cutlass is not welcomed at all.

3. Forecast as a business man not as a farmer: A farmer says he would wait for the planting season before he starts to cultivate the land or after the first rain. A business man would rather create irrigation systems and go ahead to plant Again you need to look at the numbers and turnover ratio. If you are considering planting in March for example because its the rainy season, then you may likely not have a sustainable business model. It is no longer new that climate change is altering so many things. The idea of native knowledge in terms of dry season and rainy season no longer works. There are some times when a glut would be experienced in the market and there are times of scarcity, you need to take advantage of both situations. In times of scarcity, the produce may be small in supply but a business man can still have much more demand and meet supply same way it was done during the glut period, this would help to keep the income steady and not nose diving.

Agriculture is a serious business and a source of regular income if properly done and treated as such.

CAN EVERY NIGERIAN BE A FARMER ?

It takes a lot of commitment to be involved in the process of farming as a business. The Government is trying its best to ensure the enabling environment is created for Agro-preneurs to thrive. The BIG QUESTION still remains is agriculture a viable business? Can anyone make a living from agriculture and still have enough to invest? Can it grow to become a conglomerate and a "blue chip" company. This and many more are questions asked by young individuals who are advised to pick up farming as a means of entrepreneurship and self employment.

1. Its not a means to an end: The notion created is that if you cannot get a job then go into farming. This is out rightly a wrong reason to go into farming because when  challenges comes, it could be difficult to stand firm. You need to make a clear decision that you want to invest in farming, either full time or part- time, that's when you get to reap the benefits and also stay put to overcome the challenges.
2. It is a steady stream of income:There is no guarantee that you would make a whole lot of money in your first propagation, but you can be rest assured the income would flow in trickles and make a huge stream of income overtime. The idea of a quick and fat flow of income is a mirage with agriculture, as it is a venture that entails continuity. You do not just plant crops and go to bed and expect to make profit when they are harvested and then that's all. You have to ensure you guard against all possible risks such as weeds, pest, pilfering, poor irrigation etc. Once you can guard against all these you are definitely going to make income.
3. The challenges can be mitigated against: One of the major challenge in the present day economy is not improved variety of seedlings, but rather the availability of regular supply of organic and inorganic manure. Also the necessary availability and usage of basic farm implements for commercial farming. As most of the farming practises are in small scale and usually cant stand the test of time. Weeds, pilfering, pest control, etc all these can be guarded against, but the lack of mini tractors like ploughs, harrows, planters, ridgers are the major challenges.

I encourage like minds to come together and invest as a group in farming, this way the real essence of farming been a commercial venture with positive growth to the economy can be achieved.