Adventures of a lady farmer .
BY BISI ALABI WILLIAMS Life Magazine - Spotlight

.THE aphorism ‘what a man can do, a woman can do better’ best exemplifies the life of Fatimah Seghosime, a London-trained chartered accountant, but now a farmer.
With Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA) certificate from the United Kingdom, a Master of Science degree in Finance and Accounting from the University of Westminster London, a Bachelor’s in Accounting and Computing from the University of Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK and a Diploma in Social Works from the University of Benin, Edo State, as well as other professional certificates, Fatimah takes pride in being a farmer.

Fondly called CFO (Chief Farm Officer) instead of the generic title of managing director, Fatimah, a versatile and highly numerate mind, represents a new breed of entrepreneurs making waves in the nation’s agricultural sector by encouraging young people to take to farming instead of waiting for the non-existent white collar jobs.

This egghead, who could easily pass for a model on any runway, says, “I’m not missing anything being a farmer, rather I see myself as a missioner committed to enrich the country from my little farmyard.”

The down-to-earth farmer, who heads Dansof Farms Limited, Ugbekpe-Ekperi, near Auchi, in the northern fringe of Edo State, adds, “I grew up in a very large family. I had people to play and chat with. I had all the friends that I needed in my family, since there were so many of us. Some of the virtues we shared were togetherness, giving and sharing as well as being compassionate towards one another.”

Though influenced by her mother, Fatimah would always be grateful to one of their family friends, Daddy Naiyeju, whose advise encouraged her to continue her studies abroad.

“I will forever remain grateful to Naiyeju who advised that it was better for me to start afresh in a more stable educational environment where the school calendar was predictable than wait for the unending strikes to be called off in Nigeria,” Fatimah says.



WHAT could have motivated her journey to farming?

The Auchi, Edo State-native says, “how the passion came is something I can’t really explain considering how I hated it when I was small and went to stay with Mama, but all that is gone. I have stayed in a part of United Kingdom where bare necessities of life such as power and water are a daily struggle. Luckily for me, my staff and I worked to get the best of the situation, so, it is with such determination that I made up my mind to come home and make my impact felt. I can say with all sense of responsibility that I have no regret whatsoever being a farmer.”

Fatimah says, “farming has been very interesting for me. Aside the joy of being close to nature, the inevitability of it is charming, especially, in an integrated system like ours. But let me tell you that part which many people shy from. Just like any other business, farming is not a hitch-free investment; as the saying goes, nothing good comes easy.”

The lady is already dreaming of something different and big. “Currently, our operation covers hatching and breeding of catfish. Our hatchery is capable of producing one million fingerlings per year and we hope to double that figure with our current expansion plan. We also have a poultry unit that is equipped with modern automatic machines that can hatch about 154,600 eggs at a time as well as parent stock that produces about 1.2 million commercial day-old chicks yearly. We also do various kinds of crops and are entering into livestock gradually,” she stresses.



ON what to do to encourage farming, she says, “government should evolve a responsible policy of funding, providing equipment, technological transfer and assistance as its done elsewhere. Another thing is the percentage banks charge on agricultural loans; it’s antithetical to growth in the sector. We hear of CBN releasing all kinds of figures as aids, but the channeling banks are not helping matters. And it’s either the monitoring teams are inefficient or the managing banks don’t understand what farming means in actual terms or there is a manipulation of information blackout somewhere. These variables make farming an ordeal.”

“As I said earlier, the interest rate on our loan is ridiculously high. In a developing country like ours, our banks ought to be willing to give loans to assist small businesses to grow rather than seek to give the loans to the already established ones who can obviously afford what they want,” she says.

THE CFO of Dansof is ready to partner with anyone who shares her vision and business ideas. “As a corporate farmer, we can partner with government at any level provided they share our vision and ideal. The federal and state governments can do a lot. Government at all levels can be of assistance by providing special grants to farmers and also enacting farmers friendly policies that will encourage commercialisation. There must be sincerity of purpose on the part of government and not make noise about boosting agriculture when in actual fact, there is nothing on ground. Government should be proactive and not use fertilizer as tool to win elections.”

Any bitter experience so far, Fatimah says, “it was my first day of hatching day old chicks (DOC) in my farm. It was my first time of touching a DOC. I was busy jumping up and down in the hatchery seeing the first step of realising my dream as a corporate farmer. I stayed to see it vaccinated and taken care of that night. Another was the day my DOC got burnt in the incubator as a result of negligence; it took me days to get over because I knew it could be avoided.”

Despite all inhibitions however, Fatimah says, “I am passionate about the Nigerian project. It’s indeed, a process that will work. I tell you, nothing gives me greater joy than the realisation that I’m contributing to jobs creation and bringing hope to many families. Our contribution to national development in our micro way is providing employment for the youths, food for the people and a lot of corporate social responsibilities to our immediate environment. We are also involved in community development projects aside having a football team that engages other teams in friendly matches.

On Nigerian women, she emphasises, “if Nigerian women are to contribute meaningfully to the development of the country than they had already done, then they need to be liberated from our present socio-cultural limitations. I read a report of a survey in 2007 that showed that 58 per cent of Nigerian women have been victims of domestic violence while sexual harassment in place of work and study is very common. Therefore, the best way to get women to contribute more towards national development is by protecting and encouraging them.”

As an apostle of youth empowerment, Fatimah counsels: “young people need to truly understand the meaning of hardwork. They need to be taught to shun get-rich-syndrome idea, which has led so many of them into making bad decisions. Today’s young people want to look glamorous without working hard for it. So, many of them have embarked on illegitimate businesses, all in the name of getting rich. They are no longer interested in intellectual development. Someone needs to tell them that success comes with hard work, determination and patience. A good example is President Goodluck Jonathan, who started as a poor boy, but with hardwork and determination is presently our Head-of-State.”

She continues, “it is good to dream big, as long as you don’t get greedy and your goals are realistic. Another thing I think will be beneficial for the society as a whole; is for young people to have good people as mentors, whom they can look up to for guidance and emulate for their exemplary life.”

On her farm, she says with smiles, “I’m definitely not missing out anything. There is no better way to relax than coming home to my massage chair and listening to music. Sometimes, I hang out with few friends. I love gymnastic, kayaking and football, and this I do with my staff almost every evening in our games village.”


REMINISCING on her school days, the lady farmer says, “school life was fun and challenging. It was fun because you get to meet people from different backgrounds, behaviour and idiosyncrasies. My university life started from UNIBEN, where I had so much fun, yet challenging, as I had problems fitting into the normal campus life because I had to transform from a regular tomboy to an ‘gbogbo bigz girl’ (as Jenifa referred to herself in one those Nollywood movies).”



http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=42147:-adventures-of-a-lady-farmer&catid=111:spotlight&Itemid=512

Kinda cool.

I suspect that I'll end up a farmer at some point later in life too.

ekt_bear:

Kinda cool.

I suspect that I'll end up a farmer at some point later in life too.

 
Encouraged by her story and success,I'm giving it a serious thought too.

wow,, I was opportuned to HV my I t there