Hi Jasper, please can you send me your email? Better still, you can send me a short mail to Rcagetu@gmail.com so we can talk .like minds bro. Thanks so much.

jasper7:
I want to quit farming this year... I want to go into processing and marketing of food products. I want to manage farmers. Not because farming is not profitable but because some really good farmers I know are suffering. Really suffering. And that is not down to the abundance of food but because they lack the right management practises. It's a big problem and I want to put in my quota in solving it.

I have been restless for a while now. Very restless. Nigeria's economy is sinking with the price of oil.

Statistics show that Nigeria spent 35billion dollars on food importation in 2015. And made a meagre 350 million from food exportation. This is a serious problem. Nigeria is in Trouble

I am speculating that more Nigerians will die of hunger than boko haram's terrorism in the next 10 years if we do not save our economy.

How can we save this economy of ours... There are areas of agriculture that is sweeping in foreign exchange for the country on a daily basis. And there are other areas that we can close up shop. And stop sending our precious cash abroad.

I have been doing some research. I think every well meaning farmer irrespective of his farming interests should have a level of export product to gain some foreign exchange.

We can turn this economic problem to our favour. We can make it the best thing that has happened to us. Believe me, a lot of attention will be transferred to people with exportable product. Considering that Nigeria is desperately scrambling for ways to revive its economy.

Let's set up plantations, farm settlements an farm estates for exportable products.

Hotmas911 already caught the vision as he is setting up a cashew plantation in ogbomosho (Land of Cashew ).

With this I have tried to streamline what I will do in 2016.

I'll be sharing them in 2 posts. You are welcome to partner, copy, criticize (constructively) or give your own view point or idea to improve what I already have.

Cc My big bro pavore9, Kalusam, hotmas911.

Nice one Mr. Jasper. The idea is applaudable and a feasible one also. Distribution and presentation is a different ball game on its own... One crucial aspect of making the project is the re-orientation of retailers.

But before you take a dive pls do test the water. We are in a hot temperate region which have its own merit and demerit. But a cooler region as an edge. Availability of Electricity is also a big deciding factor.

An almost new model for our temperate region is crucial.. Using a copy and paste approach of other countries model could be detrimental cos they ve things we don't have and we have things they don’t have.

So a feasibility study that will mainly factor in open market will see this idea metamorphose to something real. Open market in the sense that one don't need a defined structure like walmart or target to make sale. Open market will help market like mile 12 and the rest. Since they are the major market, it is logical to have it as ur study theme.

But first... A small model should first be created and studied before looking at the expansion phase.

I am also looking at the pricing scheme of produce. A semi-central agric stock market will see everybody (farmers, distributor and retailers) happy.

1) Even though u be my Oga at d top, I disagree with some of the problems & solution u raised as I outline below.

You said:

jasper7:


The first product of my restlessness was FOOD DISTRIBUTION.

Personally, I blv the 1st problem is PRESERVATION.
Most of food produced by farmers got wasted because of the availability of preservation medium/process.

We buy apples (imported from S.Africa) in Nigeria all year round at the same price no matter the season. I understand that these apples have been harvested & preserved in previous year b4 coming/getting to Nigeria.

How were they able to achieve that?
In my own little research, I found out we can implement simple preservation methods/technique that suit our unique condition/climate in Nigeria & that will solve this problem.
Even after distribution, you still nd preservation to make it last longer at the destination/shops b4 the home/table.

I stand to be corrected.

2) STANDARDISATION & PACKAGING
Another very BIG problem is STANDARDISATION & PACKAGING of our farm produces. We can not continue to use our old standards & packaging & expect a new result.
We must come up with standard & modern way of selling so as to appeal to the niche market.
Standards will come with selling ALL farm produce in weights (kg) so that people cld just walk in to such shops, pick the quantity they want & pay for it. Also, can the price be maintained the same throughout the year? If the price is higher than open market prices, Nigerians will go to the open market.

Packaging comes in how we move/transport & display these produce from the farm to the shops.
We must overcome ALL these b4 we can have a headway in fresh farm produce sale in shops.

jasper7:


I have broken down my idea.

First step would be to set up a collection point, where farmers come and register their harvest... It can start twice a week and later become everyday.

At the collection point, are you going to be buying their products? If you are not, I doubt if this might work. Farmers need money NOW NOW & if you can't give them, they leave you & sell in the open market for less.

jasper7:

Next step. Sign up some farmers, give them improved seeds, train them and allow them to farm. Draw a plan on how and when they'll farm in order to meet your specific needs at a specific time.

I also doubt the workability of this plan because of the peculiar nature of Nigeria farmers. They will simply take your trainings, inputs e.t.c, use it for a while & abandon you. Go & ask Guinness PLC, Lever Brothers (& other companies that have tried it in the past) why they had to have their onw farm or import their agricultural needs.

jasper7:

Step 3. Set up a fresh food outlet in any city of choice, with solid branding.

Now, this is a viable venture. But also, how do you preserve at such outlets? Our hot climate does not allow us leave these product at room temperatures, they will simply rot away. As I said: In my own little research, I found out we can implement simple preservation methods/technique that suit our unique condition/climate in Nigeria & that will solve this problem.
We can collabo on this

jasper7:

Step 4. Start publicizing.

Publicity might take all your budget if you are not careful. I blv a simple working model cld be established & the success of such will advertise itself.

jasper7:

Step 5. Train more farmers

I blv that instead of training the illitrated farmes (which might not be worth it in the long run), we can form a farming group of the educated farmers who will understand the benefits of such ideas in the long run & key into it.
Such way, the idea will gain ground fast.

jasper7:


Step 6. Set up more collection points and outlets

Let's start small, learn from it & grow.

ALL in ALL, it's a great wake up call & I have been personally thinking along the same paths for some time now. But, if we don't get standardisation & packaging right, we may not achieve this lofty goal.

I blv we can do it. Yes we can!

May GOD bless our hustles.

QED

jasper7:
My 2nd project for the year... Is my foreign exchange project. Setting up a cocoa plantation. I need cocoa money. Cocoa is the biggest non-oil export.

I used to be afraid of cocoa farming because of the disease issue. But I have been doing my research and things are looking good.
I have serious interest in the hard currency it attracts and my children will be born to inherit my investment.

5,000 hectares by 2020 is the target.
Can I do it? Yes? No? I think I can

Yes you can!
Your words are making love to my heart!

Newway2:
1) Even though u be my Oga at d top, I disagree with some of the problems & solution u raised as I outline below.

You said:


Personally, I blv the 1st problem is PRESERVATION.
Most of food produced by farmers got wasted because of the availability of preservation medium/process.

We buy apples (imported from S.Africa) in Nigeria all year round at the same price no matter the season. I understand that these apples have been harvested & preserved in previous year b4 coming/getting to Nigeria.

How were they able to achieve that?
In my own little research, I found out we can implement simple preservation methods/technique that suit our unique condition/climate in Nigeria & that will solve this problem.
Even after distribution, you still nd preservation to make it last longer at the destination/shops b4 the home/table.

I stand to be corrected.

Your concerns have been duly noted. I'll just want you to know that everyhthing is down to good planning and organization. A simple farming time table eliminates some of these issues you brought up

Newway2:


At the collection point, are you going to be buying their products? If you are not, I doubt if this might work. Farmers need money NOW NOW & if you can't give them, they leave you & sell in the open market for less.

How many farmers collect cash at the spot in the open market? Lol... Funny. My brother I am a practising farmer, I know what will favour farmers and that's what I will offer them. Like I said, I can't start sharing my whole plan here.

Newway2:

Publicity might take all your budget if you are not careful. I blv a simple working model cld be established & the success of such will advertise itself.

What is publicity?

Pavore9:
Post harvest preservation, fine tuning marketing & the distribution channels, export orientation would create so much opportunities. Kenya presently exports on an annual basis, thousands of 40ft containers filled only with avocados..we must wake up!

True... Reading my mind as usual.

Pls send ur email address to raymond.otokunrin.com

Kalusam:
Read the ideas you've got there; great we are thinking in the same direction even though we've not discussed about this previously . Was chatting with my friend last week on how his journey to his Dad's farm went...he told me something that let my jaw dropping! His Dad harvested and stored about 9 bags of Cocoa pods and they sold for 450k...my guy got a gift of 100k from Daddy for his 1 week stay, end of story. Now, Imagine if they were exporting them?

*9 bags of dried cocoa beans*.

Jasper is an excellent mind.
20 of him in this country would put Nigeria on the global Agro map in the class of Brazil, Argentina & Thailand.

@jasper.
You are always an inspiration. Interestingly we are working on a similar project and have been on it for 3 years running. We've been lucky with financing as it has come in droves. Our first four mini outlets would open up this year. The real work is in sourcing. First, getting your farmers to meet your specifications. Then getting a wide array of products to meet the demands of a broad spectrum of clients. The big word in all of this is LOGISTICS. Designing a multi modal logistics system with the use of some simple technologies like the mobile phone would help move the products from farm gate to the retail centers with near zero wastage.

This is big big big. Just a small insight. Shoprite is big. Yes. We agree. But average daily footfall in the busiest shoprite in Nigeria: 2000-4000 visits daily. Average footfall in an average market in a mid sized city: 30,000-40,000 visits. That tells us the market is much larger for fresh food products than for provisions. Once again, the opportunity is Big, big, big and I think you are on a part of progress.

Good concept

@papabrowne. My big oga happy new year... You flatter me too much. Let's keep on hands on deck. Change is coming fast.

Following this steps

Nice one guys. I think the approach will be of immense benefits to farmers because most of them lack information on how to maximize their outputs and of course no market information systems. I was consulted for a firm producing industrial glucose from cassava. They had an instalation capacity that will use 400Metric Tons of Cassava Tubers everyday. The firm couldn't produce at optimal capacity for a long time due lack of enough raw materials and eventually had to close down. Meanwhile there are lots of cassava farmers somewhere crying of lack of market. So the problem is not actually demand and it's not actually supply either, it's the lack of a vibrant model that will connect the two ends seamlessly. I like your idea Jasper and Newman too. Try and collaborate and of course be dogged too because the road will be tough. Shallom

This is the thread i have been looking for all this while! My dad is a farmer but he is always short changed by his customers.Oga Jasper,i hail thee

I have only b of d opinion that our major problem in this country is our attitude- self centeredness. Everybody is struggling it out on their own. If farmers come together to form associations, it is because of selfish interests. Parochial interest is d bane of Nigeria development. we all want to exploit one another

This same attitude is what we are experiencing in agric sector. no linkages btw d farmers n agro producers to the suppliers to d distributors. no ties. everybody is a farmer n a trainer n at the same time a marketer. Cognisance is not given to values n education again

At www.agromerchant.com,we designed this ecommerce to solve farmers challenge of marketing their goods but the problem has being that farmers are not even producing standards or not wanting to conform wt d rules. people are looking for easy way to enrich themselves. it wont work.

@Jasper, networking and believing ourselves is d way to go in Nigeria. a country that shy away frm building synergy wil not go far.

www.agromerchant.com has kickstarted the vision n we are already working towards looking at possibilities of building agro malls but my submission is one person cant do it. let us form a chain of networks n partner together esp. like minds like ours.

hipinnacle:
I have only b of d opinion that our major problem in this country is our attitude- self centeredness. Everybody is struggling it out on their own. If farmers come together to form associations, it is because of selfish interests. Parochial interest is d bane of Nigeria development. we all want to exploit one another

This same attitude is what we are experiencing in agric sector. no linkages btw d farmers n agro producers to the suppliers to d distributors. no ties. everybody is a farmer n a trainer n at the same time a marketer. Cognisance is not given to values n education again

At www.agromerchant.com,we designed this ecommerce to solve farmers challenge of marketing their goods but the problem has being that farmers are not even producing standards or not wanting to conform wt d rules. people are looking for easy way to enrich themselves. it wont work.

@Jasper, networking and believing ourselves is d way to go in Nigeria. a country that shy away frm building synergy wil not go far.

www.agromerchant.com has kickstarted the vision n we are already working towards looking at possibilities of building agro malls but my submission is one person cant do it. let us form a chain of networks n partner together esp. like minds like ours.

Nice one. Agromerchant is pioneering a revolution..

yea it's an innovative concept but this cant be achieved solely by the private sector. A public private partnership (ppp) is required. In addition to what hipinnacle rightly suggested, we farmers need to first connect and form a powerful association that would be capable of lobbying the government into passing and creating the necessary laws and institutions required to effect such a link between farmers and consumers. With the advencements in communication technology this needn't be a daunting task. The will is what's lacking. So the ministry of agriculture must be part and parcel of this project. In fact if the farmers association is organized properly it should be able to form a commitee in the ministry both at state and federal level. We farmers dont realize the power we hold. We feed the nation for crying out loud!

fayahsoul:
yea it's an innovative concept but this cant be achieved solely by the private sector. A public private partnership (ppp) is required. In addition to what hipinnacle rightly suggested, we farmers need to first connect and form a powerful association that would be capable of lobbying the government into passing and creating the necessary laws and institutions required to effect such a link between farmers and consumers. With the advencements in communication technology this needn't be a daunting task. The will is what's lacking. So the ministry of agriculture must be part and parcel of this project. In fact if the farmers association is organized properly it should be able to form a commitee in the ministry both at state and federal level. We farmers dont realize the power we hold. We feed the nation for crying out loud!

If you are waiting for the government. Get ready to wait for a long time.

Mr. Jasper is pls is dia anyway i can contact u in oda to get tips for starting up my own cucumber farm? I stay in PH. email: bemmanuel96@gmail.com

jasper7:


If you are waiting for the government. Get ready to wait for a long time.

Food security is a matter of national security. This project can not be executed fully by the privated sector alone, government definitely has a part to play. There are laws, structures and regulatory agencies that need to be established first before the private sector can operate optimally. Unfortunately our gov. is parasitic and it will be the greatest stumbling block to such a project. The private sector strives on competition(selfishness) and their primary concern is maximum profit so they cant organize for a greater good. A regulatory arm of government, protectionist laws, marketing boards, subsidies, intel and general admistration, among other things, must necessarily be provided by the government. Otherwise what we will have is a disconnected, haphazard monopoly of distribution by a few capitalists over small scattered localized areas throughout the country.

fayahsoul:

Food security is a matter of national security. This project can not be executed fully by the privated sector alone, government definitely has a part to play. There are laws, structures and regulatory agencies that need to be established first before the private sector can operate optimally. Unfortunately our gov. is parasitic and it will be the greatest stumbling block to such a project. The private sector strives on competition(selfishness) and their primary concern is maximum profit so they cant organize for a greater good. A regulatory arm of government, protectionist laws, marketing boards, subsidies, intel and general admistration, among other things, must necessarily be provided by the government. Otherwise what we will have is a disconnected, haphazard monopoly of distribution by a few capitalists over small scattered localized areas throughout the country.

You are missing the point here... I didn't argue that the government does not have a part to play. All I am saying is that if you are WAITING for government, get ready to wait for a long time.

Great contributions from all on this thread. This fall in crude oil prices is a great opportunity to revamp our agribusiness sector. A guy built a solar powered coldstore (Coldhubs) that can preserve agro produce. They are in small sizes and flexible. Check it out here http://www.southafrica.info/africa/solar-powered-refrigeration-041115.htm#.Vq5RJ0-MbMy. A good start could be partnering with the builder as food wastage is a big problem here as highlighted by newway2

lynx200:
Great contributions from all on this thread. This fall in crude oil prices is a great opportunity to revamp our agribusiness sector. A guy built a solar powered coldstore (Coldhubs) that can preserve agro produce. They are in small sizes and flexible. Check it out here http://www.southafrica.info/africa/solar-powered-refrigeration-041115.htm#.Vq5RJ0-MbMy. A good start could be partnering with the builder as food wastage is a big problem here as highlighted by newway2

The manufacturer is even a Nigerian. Very nice

jasper7:

That's the imbalance I talk about. Why would everybody go and start producing onions at the same time? Just because that's the easiest period to produce. Processing food especially for vegetables is not as nutritious as eating it fresh. Most processed food are just garbage. For the amount of farmers in Nigeria, I don't think we should have excess of any product. At least for now. That's why I said I want to manage farmers. So that we can produce what is needed when it is needed. And put the rest of our energy in exportable products.

..
Well Processed foods including vegetables will retain most of their nutritive value. One of the best way to process vegetables is by drying them under shade or oven and then grinding to powder.