Hello nlanders, I live in a rural community where 90% of the people are farmers. This is only my second year but I know a lot about the people and their lifestyles already. In my time here, I've observed these people make a lot of money during harvest period from October to January. They sell their produce and leave little for consumption and planting in the next farming season. The months of February and march are also good even though spendings would have reduced considerably. However, when the next farming season kicks off in April and May, these people become so broke that some of them struggle to pay labourers and could hardly afford basic inputs. Then the months of June and July are always the toughest, foods become so expensive and they have to continue their farm works. In a chat with some of the locals, the reason for this seasonality in income level is due to lack of storage facilities. Some however pointed to the fact that it's due to their non involvement in irrigation farming. These two reasons are valid but they shouldn't be enough reasons to cause the kind of hardship they experience. For a while now, I've been thinking of ways to help these people. Their generosity is incomparable. So, I'm planning a program which will involve investment of stocks. This is how it works
During harvest, every interested farmer commits a portion of their produce as investment. The value of investment will be the current market price of the produce. So, my plan is to transport these produce to urban centers where I'll sell them at reasonable prices and the money will be reinvested into marketing of other produce. After six months, which will be the start of a new farming season, they get 100% returns on their investments. I've conducted couple of researches and considered the bright side. I believe this plan will work but it will depend on the kind of produce being invested. So, I've concluded I'll be starting with yam tubers since it's the major staple cultivated here. That way, I can make 2 or 3 trips in a month and get between 15-20% ROI on each trip. I was at the LG secretariat today to discuss this with the supervisor of agric department but he wasn't available. So, I'll be meeting him tomorrow. The problem however is, how do you see this opportunity? Do you think it will be worth the stress? From my projections, the 100% will be made in maximum of three months and the income generated in the remaining months will become mine. The intention is to help farmers but there is an economic side to it. Please kindly drop your suggestions and what you feel the risk factor might be. Thanks.