Three years ago, I was sourcing ginger in a remote village and I came across this state of the art building, an elegant structure with a beautiful finishing, the owner of the building is a farmer and my host at the time, residing in that agrarian community. Unfortunately, it is about 1% of farmers that know how to create wealth from what they do. My host is among the 1% that have the knowledge of creating wealth from farming.
If you took dinner last night or breakfast this morning all thanks to the farmer but unfortunately he didn't make much from the transaction. It is a shame.
One of the reasons why they didn't make much from farming is that most of them farmers have refused to change. We cannot keep doing what we have always done and expect great results. In order to see new results we have to start doing new things.
There are many ways in which farmers can create wealth, but in this write-up, I would explore only a few ways in which farmers can create wealth irrespective of his location.
Firstly, it is highly imperative that farmers come together as a group, this could be base on location, crops planted or common interest. There is a lot that they can achieve when they are under of one umbrella. These is a first signal of strength and it gives them a sense of recognition. As a group it is easier to do certain business, such as supplies to manufacturing companies that uses agro produces as a raw materials, can also be a force to get loans from banks, equipment financing, project financing and insurance. There are many things that can be done through this group.
Secondly, most farmers don’t understand the power of the internet and social media and as such can’t put it into use. As a farmer with the help of the social media you can sell your produce from the comfort of your farm. Buyers will come into your village to buy from you at your price. With a proper arrangement you can stock some designated supermarket in urban area with your produces. People can invest in your farming and profit sharing between parties, all with the help of the internet.
Thirdly, storage of farm produces is another means of creating wealth. It is not out of place for some farmers or coming under a group to have warehouse or silos in the agrarians areas. This can also be open to the public to invest in. A lot of agro produce are cheap during harvest season and price could go up to 150% increase in six to eight month however price could also fall. So to take advantage of this, the best time to store is during harvest and for a lot of these produce prices will always increase as we barely meet production demand . Farmers can manage warehouses for companies that have storage needs, there are other means of making money from storage.
Farmer can create liaison offices in the urban areas, this will serve as a business representative office for a lot of business that they will undertake in the cities .
These days exporting has been simplified one can export from the comfort of his kitchen. In 2020, the food industry in Nigeria was worth $46.55billion( from research and market)It is a big market to play in but most importantly you must invest in yourself and knowledge so that you can harness the opportunities available.

(Curated from my upcoming book)

You are really worth listening to in regards to "Creating Wealth Through Agriculture".

Theophinio:
You are really worth listening to in regards to "Creating Wealth Through Agriculture".

Thanks a million .