The general perception about farming in Nigeria being a ‘dirty job’ that requires you owning and cultivating your own farm with hoes and cutlasses is gradually changing thanks to some emerging tech-powered Agric-focused start-ups in the country.
In the past, this wrong perception discouraged young Nigerians from venturing into farming; they would rather chase the limited white-collar jobs available than venture into farming.
However, with advancement in technology, this is no longer the case as you can now confidently be in the business of agriculture without necessarily getting ‘dirty’. The disruption currently on-going in the Agric ecosystem affords young Nigerians looking to start a ‘side hustle’ and earn additional income to invest and get a good return on their investment.
The present government is also committed to agriculture and it has come up with various policies to protect local farmers and boost local production of some of the crops grown in Nigeria. The government has promised to ban the importation of rice and also placed a restriction on crude palm oil importers’ access to forex in the interbank market. These policies are geared towards boosting local production, hence creating immense opportunities for local farmers and investors.
The list of these start-ups keeps increasing on a daily basis.
Farmcrowdy- Nigeria’s first digital Agricultural platform, ThriveAgric, and Growsel just to mention few.
On some of these platforms, a unit of maize farm is sponsored with N122,400 with a return on investment of 23 percent (about N28,152) in six months.
In other words, a sponsor gets N150,552 at the end of one planting cycle. A tomato farm is N144,000 per with the same 23 percent return in six months.
For poultry farm sponsors, a portion goes for N96,000 per unit for a 20 percent return in four months, while a cassava farm requires an N97,200 investment with 25 percent return in one year.
According to Femi, an investor in one of the platforms, investing in agriculture via these platforms has afforded him an opportunity to earn additional income.
‘I invested in one of their chicken farms in Osun-State, with a Return on Investment per 6 months. I was even surprised with the way they kept updating me with developments on the farm I sponsored. I was really happy when I received my returns 2 days before the due date’.
For investors looking for where to invest, this is how the platform works.
Sign up either to become a Farm Sponsor or Farm Follower and create your Farm Sponsor profile.
Go through the profiles of the farms which are spread across the country. These include cassava farms, tomato farms, chicken farms, soya beans, and maize farms. The farms have different maturity periods and varying Return On Investment from 8-15% depending on the farms sponsored.
Sponsors (investors) can watch farmers grow the farm and engage them at will as updates are sent through videos/pictures/timelines.
At harvest, farm products are sold to the consumer markets and the profit is then split between the farmers, farm sponsors & Farmcrowdy depending on the number of units bought.
Farmers and sponsors (investors) all receive a percentage of the profits on the harvest. The platform also makes provision for insurance cover for all existing farm projects, so that in the event of unforeseen circumstances, the sponsors’ capital can be refunded. However, the insurance covers only the initial sponsorship capital, as it does not cover the return after harvest. According to farmcrowdy, it has over 17, 000 farm sponsorships spread across the country.
No doubt, these startups are not only positively impacting the lives of local farmers and their families, but making a huge profit for farm sponsors and investors. Definitely, this year looks bright in the Agric ecosystem.
Olufikayo Owoeye
