‘As long as man needs food, farming can never go out of fashion’

With an objective to making agriculture the mainstay of Nigeria’s economy in the face of fall in oil price, Wale Olajide and his team introduced ‘growcropsonline’. The idea is to make farming more accessible to more Nigerians and make farming a vibrant career even while at one’s place of work. In this interview with BDSUNDAY, Olajide explains the modalities of the scheme. Excerpts:

What brought about the idea of the farming scheme, growcropsonline?

We are actually a team of five young professionals. We have experience in Agriculture, Law, Sciences, Marketing, Banking and IT. A number of us have agric-related backgrounds and the need was just glaring that there is an end to end problem in the agric sector. We are running a system that has been developed in terms of operations by uneducated farmers who have a limited scope of the holistic nature of an agric industry. These farmers though have been doing an amazing job with the scarce knowledge and resources available. There is however, a large market that has fundamentally been left untapped. We see no reason why we cannot produce every single crop and livestock that can feed us all. I do not understand why we cannot have our made in Nigeria bacon or corned beef or anything at all wile government bans all imports of the same product. Europe banned our beans because we use banned chemicals. In my mind, the alternative chemicals they expect us to use is made by their own companies as such, they are creating standards that ultimately require us to purchase inputs from them. It’s all about protecting your local industries and Nigeria should be doing same too. I don’t think it is too much if Nigerian government insists that the standard of any canned food for the Nigerian market must have a Nigerian ingredient grown in Nigeria.

May we know if you are a farmer?

I head the marketing and partnerships department. We have, as I said earlier, other members of our team who have experience in farming like myself. I grew up in ABU Zaria and my father, though a professor, had one of the largest beans farms on that axis. His farm was in Shika. The profitability became evident to me during the university lecturers’ strike in the Babangida era. For a long period, salaries were not being paid yet we survived on beans. We ate and sold beans. I therefore, can say I was aware of, although not involved in, farming at an early age. You also cannot be in this business and not be actively involved in farming so right now, I can say I am actually a farmer.

Don’t you think the idea of growcropsonline will discourage many people from going to the farm?

Well, our platform actually encourages farming. However, people are looking for risk-free farming with guarantees for their monies returning back to them with some profit. Many young people have ventured into farming and have had their fingers burnt. Farming is not easy in all honesty. Experience and daily commitment is what makes it work. You cannot be doing a 9 to 5 job and expect to give your farm a 100 percent attention. Our clients can visit their farms at any time they want in our pre-booking system so that they can see what is going on while we send them periodic updates when they make request for it. For us, this is a chance to farm conveniently and securely. What I would rather imagine is we are encouraging people to see the profitability of farming such that in a short while, they too can independently branch out on their own and start their own farms.

Who are the people you expect to come on board this growcropsonline scheme?

We are set up for busy people, new farmers, intending farmers and really anyone who is interested in farming. Our demography covers male and females. Surprisingly, we see a lot of women interested in farming too.

But how does it work for career people?

The client or intending farmer goes to our websitewww.growcropsonline.com and searches through our crop list. In each crop information, we give details of the crop, the cost of production and the estimated profits. The client then clicks on “begin to farm” and on the spot pays to rent land. The process allows for installment payment over the farming period. After harvest, the crop is either delivered to the client or it is sold on their behalf and paid to them. The client can also visit his or her farm at anytime within the period.

What if there are disasters, emergencies on the farmlands, such as invasion of rodents or death of birds in poultry, who then bears the brunt?

The entire process is insured such that clients don’t lose money. Except for acts of God, the client is covered and their money is safe. We haven’t begun livestock though. We intend to start with piggery by the end of the year and then fisheries.

Are Nigerians buying into it? What’s the acceptability rate?

We have been doing very well in line with our plans. We usually are over-subscribed and have a lot of people interested in farming. Nigerians, as I have always known, are wonderful and smart people. The support we have gotten has encouraged us to begin an early bird programme which allows potential clients book for different crops with a small fee pending the opening of our bookings. That way, they never get to miss a booking. The acceptance rate is encouraging for a new business.

Are there plans to collaborate with local farmers?

We are currently working with a few local farmers. But fundamentally, we try to run our own farms with their help. We also use experienced extension workers too. They provide up to date information that helps our processes. Collaborating with local farmers is key but we intend to fuse our model and best practices standards with their experience ultimately to get outstanding service.

Are there plans for exports?

We are already exporting. We are working with exporters and intend to get our own export structure in place. We are observing and learning the export ropes, such that we don’t lose people’s money.

What have been the achievements so far?

Well, clients are being paid regularly and they are happy. We have also been working to improve local farmers’ knowledge. We have cultivated huge expanses of land and know we are helping in some little way to make things better. We are also trying to create a post-harvest and processing system for each crop we cultivate. We are testing with sweet corn. We intend to process and package boiled sweet corn by the end of the year. If we can do this with each crop, we would be causing some disruptions in the industry, I think. Well, at least an additional over 1000 new hectares of land is being farmed for clients. We are currently paying at least 300 people income from their farms. It has been God, grit and sheer determination.

What is growcropsonline out to achieve in an economy that is hugely reliant on oil?

In our meeting with the Honourable Minister of Agricuture, Audu Ogbeh, I must first thank him for agreeing to meet us and encourage us. His words have actually allowed us persevere through our growing phase. He made us understand

that food can never go out of fashion. He made us understand that with food, you cannot go wrong it you are innovative. He also told us that the businesses that exist and are not being harnessed are many. For instance, he told us about India

needing pulses and lentils grown in Nigeria for export. No one is meeting that demand. Saudi Arabia needs goat carcasses from Nigeria and no one is meeting that demand. He really made us

see that with innovation and if we honestly treat farming as a business, government does not need to make any real policies to earn forex or save forex through farming. With oil as our main forex earner, if food is draining our forex, we can stop the drain with food from inside Nigeria whilst the excess produce is sent abroad and sold to earn forex. I think once we are bullish, aggressive and innovative with farming and post processing, it’s a no brainer that there would be a shift.

What are the other goals you are determined to achieve with this farming scheme?

We plan to be the biggest player in this area of agriculture. Biggest in the sense that we dictate an approach for others to follow and in terms of impact felt. We do not want to exist and not be number 1. That said, we have a holistic approach

we are planning to follow. Farming is the smallest but most basic part of our plan. We cannot move forward unless we begin by farming. Ours is a dream that is bigger than us and we know with God on our side, we would achieve it. We also intend to be active in terms of CSR and have chosen a niche area in the medical area to make a strong impact. We try not to be regular in what we do and I am sure in a short while, you will see my face again in this area. In short, we just want to make an impact, touch lives, help people earn a living and earn something in the process.