Adex001:
@Jethro2. Thanks so much for your help always. I have prepared my land tao plant the tomatoes.. Am having difficulties getting the seeds for nursery..... Any help towards that..? Am no more scared of failing... Thanks in anticipation..

I dey here ooooo.

Just as I initially promised, I finally started a pilot project for tomatoes marketing. We have developed a model which we intend to spread across Nigeria. We have started a trail run in Abuja to better understand how the final system will work. Just this week we have started delivering to wholesale markets at least 5,000 Kgs (100 Basket) of tomatoes daily which we are also able to sell of almost immediately.

There are challenges in the marketing of the commodity, one of which is lack of standardized quality, quantity and price mechanism. From our brief sojorn so far, I have come to realise that the farmers pay for the risks involved in the business as most dealers are not willing to offer better prices for the produce for fear of losing money either during produce transit or flooding of the market with products which may undercut their margins! Imagine right now we currently buy almost 70KG of tomatoes from farmers in Zaria and Kano for around N1,300.

I am sharing my experience so that farmers of the commodity will better understand the marketing aspects and it challenges!

Though the tomatoes we are trading on is for the wholesale mass market.

jeffmyson:
Just as I initially promised, I finally started a pilot project for tomatoes marketing. We have developed a model which we intend to spread across Nigeria. We have started a trail run in Abuja to better understand how the final system will work. Just this week we have started delivering to wholesale markets at least 5,000 Kgs (100 Basket) of tomatoes daily which we are also able to sell of almost immediately.
There are challenges in the marketing of the commodity, one of which is lack of standardized quality, quantity and price mechanism. From our brief sojorn so far, I have come to realise that the farmers pay for the risks involved in the business as most dealers are not willing to offer better prices for the produce for fear of losing money either during produce transit or flooding of the market with products which may undercut their margins! Imagine right now we currently buy almost 70KG of tomatoes from farmers in Zaria and Kano for around N1,300.
I am sharing my experience so that farmers of the commodity will better understand the marketing aspects and it challenges!
Though the tomatoes we are trading on is for the wholesale mass market.

Jeffmyson,

Do you say N1,300 for 70kg? Thats like 2 basket for N1,300?. Thats N18.50 per kg?

ARE FARMERS RICH?
www.myagricworld.com
Can Agricultural Business or farm work Alone make you wealthy As Dangote/Adenuga

If you go into agriculture from the scratch with little capital as will have said, in NIGERIA? You would even be struggling to pay your bills talk less of living above average, talk less of becoming a millionnaire and talk less of being a Dangote and Adenuga, Who told u those 2 guys are farmers in the 1st place? www.myagricworld.com
You will be making common mistakes if you call Dangote a farmer, Dangote is an Agri-businessman not a farmer.... to view know my opinion on this Question... visit the link below www.myagricworld.com ..
i render consultancy service for any intend agribusiness. mainly AGRONOMY..no livestock I also help my client prepare a comprehensive feasibility study on their intend project.
i also training my clients on how to multiply plaintain/banana suckers, maize breeding, vegetable farming.. Not theory oooo.. Praticals
you can mail me on dotmoth4life@gmail.com

jeffmyson:
Just as I initially promised, I finally started a pilot project for tomatoes marketing. We have developed a model which we intend to spread across Nigeria. We have started a trail run in Abuja to better understand how the final system will work. Just this week we have started delivering to wholesale markets at least 5,000 Kgs (100 Basket) of tomatoes daily which we are also able to sell of almost immediately.
There are challenges in the marketing of the commodity, one of which is lack of standardized quality, quantity and price mechanism. From our brief sojorn so far, I have come to realise that the farmers pay for the risks involved in the business as most dealers are not willing to offer better prices for the produce for fear of losing money either during produce transit or flooding of the market with products which may undercut their margins! Imagine right now we currently buy almost 70KG of tomatoes from farmers in Zaria and Kano for around N1,300.
I am sharing my experience so that farmers of the commodity will better understand the marketing aspects and it challenges!
Though the tomatoes we are trading on is for the wholesale mass market.

You are doing a great job. The open market price fluctuates which thereby made it a calculated market. The northerners has been planting with with irrigation and will soon be running out of stocks.
To maximise open market one needs to understudy it.
The best vegetable market so far in Nigeria is the Standard market which we are under utilising.
Keep the spirit alive and weldone

dotmoth4life:
ARE FARMERS RICH?
www.myagricworld.com
Can Agricultural Business or farm work Alone make you wealthy As Dangote/Adenuga

If you go into agriculture from the scratch with little capital as will have said, in NIGERIA? You would even be struggling to pay your bills talk less of living above average, talk less of becoming a millionnaire and talk less of being a Dangote and Adenuga, Who told u those 2 guys are farmers in the 1st place? www.myagricworld.com
You will be making common mistakes if you call Dangote a farmer, Dangote is an Agri-businessman not a farmer.... to view know my opinion on this Question... visit the link below www.myagricworld.com ..
i render consultancy service for any intend agribusiness. mainly AGRONOMY..no livestock I also help my client prepare a comprehensive feasibility study on their intend project.
i also training my clients on how to multiply plaintain/banana suckers, maize breeding, vegetable farming.. Not theory oooo.. Praticals
you can mail me on dotmoth4life@gmail.com

I don't have time to disprove your discouraging claims against farmers. But all you typed is just Trash!!

Apologies though.

dejia:


Jeffmyson,

Do you say N1,300 for 70kg? Thats like 2 basket for N1,300?. Thats N18.50 per kg?

That's correct and can even be lower sometimes, like yesterday we bought for N1,200 per basket (Big size Basket) the price depends finally on quality.
Cheers!!

TheLight001:


I don't have time to disprove your discouraging claims against farmers. But all you typed is just Trash!!

Apologies though.

hehehehehe. this guy sef. you just made me laugh like mad.

jasper7:

hehehehehe. this guy sef. you just made me laugh like mad.

Lol

dotmoth4life:
ARE FARMERS RICH?
www.myagricworld.com
Can Agricultural Business or farm work Alone make you wealthy As Dangote/Adenuga

If you go into agriculture from the scratch with little capital as will have said, in NIGERIA? You would even be struggling to pay your bills talk less of living above average, talk less of becoming a millionnaire and talk less of being a Dangote and Adenuga, Who told u those 2 guys are farmers in the 1st place? www.myagricworld.com
You will be making common mistakes if you call Dangote a farmer, Dangote is an Agri-businessman not a farmer.... to view know my opinion on this Question... visit the link below www.myagricworld.com ..
i render consultancy service for any intend agribusiness. mainly AGRONOMY..no livestock I also help my client prepare a comprehensive feasibility study on their intend project.
i also training my clients on how to multiply plaintain/banana suckers, maize breeding, vegetable farming.. Not theory oooo.. Praticals
you can mail me on dotmoth4life@gmail.com

How is this related to the thread why not pay for an advert.Now you come across as desperate and irritating

jethro2:

You are doing a great job. The open market price fluctuates which thereby made it a calculated market. The northerners has been planting with with irrigation and will soon be running out of stocks.
To maximise open market one needs to understudy it.
The best vegetable market so far in Nigeria is the Standard market which we are under utilising.
Keep the spirit alive and weldone

Thanks for your kind word jethro! I really appreciate!

However the way this guys run the show seems a little organised in terms of the farming aspects. For example 90% of the tomatoes in the market are coming out of Zaria with little supply from elsewhere like Kano. However the crop is almost finished and within 2 to 3 weeks the market will move towards Kano which is expecting harvest shortly and they will have more than enough supply to keep the market running for another 2 months before everyone will return to Zaria! Keeping the cycle going!

However when the rains come! Almost all the farmers abandon the tomatoes and grow grains which give them more money. That's why tomatoes are most expensive during raining season!

jeffmyson:

Thanks for your kind word jethro! I really appreciate!
However the way this guys run the show seems a little organised in terms of the farming aspects. For example 90% of the tomatoes in the market are coming out of Zaria with little supply from elsewhere like Kano. However the crop is almost finished and within 2 to 3 weeks the market will move towards Kano which is expecting harvest shortly and they will have more than enough supply to keep the market running for another 2 months before everyone will return to Zaria! Keeping the cycle going!
However when the rains come! Almost all the farmers abandon the tomatoes and grow grains which give them more money. That's why tomatoes are most expensive during raining season!

Northerners got more supports in agriculture from their government. They have access to irrigation dams and improved seed.
The government there invest massively on agriculture. The more reason majority of food supply comes from the north.
International NGOs also concentrates their assistance in the north.
We are just trying to get ourselves organise in the South West.
We hope to get there sooner than later

jethro2:

Northerners got more supports in agriculture from their government. They have access to irrigation dams and improved seed.
The government there invest massively on agriculture. The more reason majority of food supply comes from the north.
International NGOs also concentrates their assistance in the north.
We are just trying to get ourselves organise in the South West.
We hope to get there sooner than later

Very true!

Almost all the dams built by FADAMA and the world Bank Assistance projects are in the north.

The north are heavily favoured in Agriculture than the south and that because the South have always looked away from Agriculture.

Hopefully with more Youths like yourself and I choosing Agri business, thing will change soonest.

Cheers!

jeffmyson:

Very true!
Almost all the dams built by FADAMA and the world Bank Assistance projects are in the north.
The north are heavily favoured in Agriculture than the south and that because the South have always looked away from Agriculture.
Hopefully with more Youths like yourself and I choosing Agri business, thing will change soonest.
Cheers!

Its not been easy. When you rightly know what to do and there are lot of mitigating factors affecting you.
1. Seeds are not readily available to the farmers.
2. Dams are not accessible. The government officials in charge have turned it to personal business.
3. The standard market is not organise. Imagine there is no certification body for fruits and vegetables on the country.
4. The techniques are not available. Tractor mounting implements are not easy to come by.
I believe we will get there in due course. We need individual investors to come in.

jethro2:

Its not been easy. When you rightly know what to do and there are lot of mitigating factors affecting you.
1. Seeds are not readily available to the farmers.
2. Dams are not accessible. The government officials in charge have turned it to personal business.
3. The standard market is not organise. Imagine there is no certification body for fruits and vegetables on the country.
4. The techniques are not available. Tractor mounting implements are not easy to come by.
I believe we will get there in due course. We need individual investors to come in.

The fact is there are no trading standards in the country, which is very bad as it really affects the farmers and the consumers. Farmers receive poor revenues for the products and the middlemen sale bad quality mixed with good quality to the final consumers who pay for it.

Can you imagine in the whole of Nigeria, there is no organised trading company focused on fresh produce in Nigeria with packing houses! The biggest problem farmers face is the marketing of their commodity and most times they end up dumping the goods at the lowest rates in frustration.

Let me give you an instance, a basket of tomatoes which we sold in Abuja for around N3,000 (we actually bought at N1,300 from farmers) is sold for N8,000 in Warri and around N10,000 in Uyo, N13,000 in Bayelsa. So you see, the farmers have no organised company to sell their produce to and end up selling in frustration to the middlemen.

That is where we need agri-businesses to come in, set up packing houses at point of origin, clean and package the produce and effectively distribute them across the country and return bigger value to farmers and consumers.

jeffmyson:

The fact is there are no trading standards in the country, which is very bad as it really affects the farmers and the consumers. Farmers receive poor revenues for the products and the middlemen sale bad quality mixed with good quality to the final consumers who pay for it.
Can you imagine in the whole of Nigeria, there is no organised trading company focused on fresh produce in Nigeria with packing houses! The biggest problem farmers face is the marketing of their commodity and most times they end up dumping the goods at the lowest rates in frustration.
Let me give you an instance, a basket of tomatoes which we sold in Abuja for around N3,000 (we actually bought at N1,300 from farmers) is sold for N8,000 in Warri and around N10,000 in Uyo, N13,000 in Bayelsa. So you see, the farmers have no organised company to sell their produce to and end up selling in frustration to the middlemen.
That is where we need agri-businesses to come in, set up packing houses at point of origin, clean and package the produce and effectively distribute them across the country and return bigger value to farmers and consumers.

2jeffmyson. Do you know you just handed me a good working info at the bolded.
Thank you for that. Intense research work commences immediately

jethro2:

2jeffmyson. Do you know you just handed me a good working info at the bolded.
Thank you for that. Intense research work commences immediately

That is more or less why I said that Lagos is getting oversupply of commodities thereby creating glut and significant price reductions.

When you are in the system, you will then knows how it works..insider informations

@jeffmyson, u truly have a insider information on price distribution, it is left 4 farmers to utilize it. They should break into markets that provides higher returns, what should stop a tomato farmer in Oyo from taking his produce to the Niger Delta.

Hi Jethro,nice work all along,please need to tap from u on a standard market. Our young company passe part out nig ltd is a solely standard agribiz based. We recently acquired a 20acre in southwest for an integarated farm. I need to discuss wt u on dis. Please send ur contat no. To gentlet2005@yahoo.com. Well done.

jeffmyson:

That is more or less why I said that Lagos is getting oversupply of commodities thereby creating glut and significant price reductions.
When you are in the system, you will then knows how it works..insider informations

Perfectly correct. One needs to expand their tentacles. There are lot to be explore

Pavore9:
@jeffmyson, u truly have a insider information on price distribution, it is left 4 farmers to utilize it. They should break into markets that provides higher returns, what should stop a tomato farmer in Oyo from taking his produce to the Niger Delta.

My Oga. No Stopping. Eastern part:here we come.

senato123:
Hi Jethro,nice work all along,please need to tap from u on a standard market. Our young company passe part out nig ltd is a solely standard agribiz based. We recently acquired a 20acre in southwest for an integarated farm. I need to discuss wt u on dis. Please send ur contat no. To gentlet2005@yahoo.com. Well done.

The standard market is unsaturated. There is a body coming up with a certification that gives you direct access to the standard market. Watch out for AFGEAN CERT for fresh fruits and vegetables.
Will be out soon. I will be posting the guidelines on registration to access the market as soon as it comes.
My mail is adesola_yinka@yahoo.com.
visit www.afgean.com to know more

Just discovered the website is probably down. Full name is Agricultural Fresh Produce Growers And Exporters Association of Nigeria. Keep in touch

COLEACP Supports Nigerian Fresh Produce To Access EU Market

Stanley Ihedigbo

Nigeria looks set to join the West African fresh producers by setting new domestic and internationally accepted export standards.
COLEACP, a Brussels-based inter-professional network promoting horticultural trade between Europe and the member countries in the Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific, commenced work with the fresh producers in Nigeria about two years ago to support the work on horticultural production and trade, under the Federal Government’s agricultural transformation agenda.
According to statement made available to The UNION Agribusiness by the Executive Secretary of Agricultural Fresh Produce Growers and Exporters Association of Nigeria (AFGEAN), Mr Akintunde Sawyerr.
Country Manager for Nigeria at COLEACP, Benedicte Werner, gave the indications in a recent disclosure.
“We reiterate our willingness to do more in Nigeria with additional funding, based on the action plan we submitted to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural development in Nigeria, Werner said .
COLEACP, an organisation that is making its presence increasingly felt in Nigeria, has established a number of strategic relationships towards preparing Nigerian horticultural investors for export trade.
According to Werner, “COLEACP-PIP currently manages 22 memoranda of agreement (MoA) for individual support projects in the horticultural industry. The beneficiaries are three farmer cooperatives, five export companies, and 12 consultancy firms.
Similarly, COLEACP is establishing a MoA with the Agricultural Fresh Produce Growers & Exporters Association of Nigeria (AFGEAN), as well as with the Department of Horticulture of the Federal University of Agriculture of Abeokuta.”
Two of AFGEAN leaders, Alhaji Tajuddeen Aminu Dantata (President) and Mr. Akintunde Sawyerr (Executive Secretary), have indicated that AFGEAN will continue to support its members, who are predominantly small sale farmers in the sector.
Specifically, Werner indicated, “COLEACP-PIP has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with IFDC 2scale project and is currently discussing with DFID – GEMS 4 project. In addition, since the first COLEACP mission to Nigeria in July 2013, applications for support have been received from other potential beneficiaries and are under evaluation; these include export companies, the Fresh Fruit Vegetable Dealers Association of Nigeria as well as from the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON).”
She pointed out that, April 2014, an awareness-raising workshop on food safety management and market requirements – co-organised with AFGEAN and Sence Agric (leading entity) – was planned for more than 30 participants from private sector organisations (farmers, future farmers, processors) as well as SON and NAFDAC.
In a training of trainers’ session, planned for 28th of April to 10th of May at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, in collaboration with the IFDC 2scale project, 12 service providers have been trained, after going through a selection process on the COLEACP-Learning platform. The trainers were from Kenya and Zambia.”

@jethro2

Great thread and thanks for sharing.
Very informative and inspiring

salsera:
@jethro2
Great thread and thanks for sharing.
Very informative and inspiring

Its my pleasure. Glad its beneficial

jeffmyson:


Good point! We need to break that cartel! It won't be easy but it is doable! I am already working out a model scheduled for launch later in the year. We have to find a way to remove the inefficiency in the chain and return higher value for end users and farmers. The cartel don't care to innovate and just want to collect their share today!

I just don't understand why in Nigeria of 2015, tomatoes are still being sold in baskets and half of it rot or damage on the way while Ghana and Benin Next door have migrated to the crates system. Imagine even Onions are still being transported and sold in Sack Bag rather than mesh bags!

My take is that our people are buying a high price for the inefficiency in the system.

I have read many of your reply and i and convinced that you are verse in this angle.
I have sent many mail to a market outside of Nigeria for an interest to start a farm business with no reply. With your experience in farming, how can I start this business or if need be can I send you a PM.
awaiting your reply soonest.
regards.

@ofabnigeria
open forum on agricultural biotechnology in africa

jethro2:

Its my pleasure. Glad its beneficial

Dear jethro2 your thread are insightful and thanks for the good work. but, If i want to go into agricultural business what are the paramount thing that i need and what is the minimum amount required?

@jethro, while u are researching on dt, the key factors shld be how to keep the tomatoes fresh till in lands in south south due to days for transportatn.

Did you see d story of the lady dt d husband was transfered to d north and she hit a goldmine in trading onions? That story says a lot. It is on business section.
https://www.nairaland.com/2153616/nairalander-tales-onions-business

mercylicious:
@jethro, while u are researching on dt, the key factors shld be how to keep the tomatoes fresh till in lands in south south due to days for transportatn.

Did you see d story of the lady dt d husband was transfered to d north and she hit a goldmine in trading onions? That story says a lot. It is on business section.
https://www.nairaland.com/2153616/nairalander-tales-onions-business

It is still too early to say the woman hit Gold mine! She has only done 1 transaction and from my business experience it is not enough to call it a success! That is more reason why people fail in business because lots of folks will jump into the business without proper analysis of the risks and the mitigating factors. If you observe carefully she has been avoiding all the questions I put to her because she knows that I know she is not divulging the full details especially the risks. In a few weeks time you will hear new tales from those who jumped in and are now sweating "Onions".

gabriel212:

Dear jethro2 your thread are insightful and thanks for the good work. but, If i want to go into agricultural business what are the paramount thing that i need and what is the minimum amount required?

Agribusiness opportunities are wider than you can imagine. Which aspect would you like to venture in. Search for a certain need in your immediate environment which you can take advantage of.