Akinyemi Ademola, chief executive officer of Farmcenta has said that the country’s agricultural value chains must go digital to drive growth and attain food security.
Ademola said this recently during activities to mark the second anniversary of Farmcenta –a digital agricultural start-up.
“We believe that we are on the right path, especially with the inclusion of technology in terms of digital agriculture,” he said.
“We see this as the way to go as regards exploring the agricultural landscape even further and taking it to the next level,” he further said.
Speaking on his organisations contribution to the sector, Akinyemi stated that Farmcenta has worked with over 5,000 farmers and has received more than 19,000 farm subscriptions from diasporas in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Europe, and UAE and completed over 12 farm investment cycles.
He says Farmcenta has cultivated over 10,000 hectares of farmlands across the country and that it currently operates in six states.
“Our platform provides Nigerians the opportunity to subscribe to farms of choice with decent returns, this is a huge occasion for us as we continue to establish ourselves as a most popular investment platform in Nigeria,” he said.
“The last two years have been challenging, as well as providing for us interesting opportunities,” he added.
He notes that the Nigerian workspace could be highly unpredictable which he added that it creates the opportunity for investors depending on the way they look at it.
“In terms of diversifying the economy, agriculture has been identified as a veritable alternative to oil and gas, as in the case of Nigeria,” he said.
“We are strategically positioning our business through long-term partnership with credible organisations and communities to enable us to drive growth and diversification. Our vision remains to be a unique and impact-driven agri-business with sustainability within the agric value chain.”
He stressed that the past two years of consistent impact have been a great experience for the Farmcenta team and that they are committed to constant improvement, innovations, dynamism, and creativity to remain in business for years to come.
“Our contributions to the national food security and global zero hunger have been tremendous, and we sincerely appreciate the receptive gestures of our stakeholders both at home and in the Diaspora, for giving us platforms to grow.
“Since the launch in 2018, Farmcenta has cultivated over 10,000 acres of farmland across six states in Nigeria. We have established private Cattle Ranch on over 50 hectares in Oyo State and fattened 6,000 bulls for premium meat processing companies,” he said.
“We have also established a dairy farm in partnership with one of the world’s largest milk production and distribution companies, with 3,500 litres of raw milk production capacity daily,” he added.
He says Farmcenta also got inducted into the France-Nigeria tech Exchange in 2019, an initiative by the French Government in collaboration with the Nigerian Embassy in France.
Akinyemi added that his organisation has been recognised and awarded the Most Innovative Agriculture Investment Platform by the Africa Brands in August 2020.
“We are driven by impact and joy of our stakeholders as we jointly contribute to the food value chain,” he said.
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