With Nigeria refocusing in agriculture as an alternative source of revenue a new dawn is gradually coming into Nigerian Agriculture. It is no longer the old story of an overly labor intensive form of agriculture. Myriads of Nigerian Youth Agric entrepreneurs are coming up with ground breaking innovations in agricultural production. This is gradually making agriculture an attractive career. We have featured in this article two of Nigerian youth entrepreneurs whose work in agriculture deserves commendation and emulation.
Adeniyi Sola Bunmi
Adeniyi, an indigene of Ogun state is a graduate of Business Administration and one of Nigeria’s emerging agricultural entrepreneurs in the state. He is also a certified Agribusiness Concultant. Adeniyi He saw the enormous economic potential in moringa production and was quick to embrace it. From the inception of the business till date, the demand for moringa has continuously amplified.
Adeniyi is of the view that young agric entrepreneurs have inconceivable aptitude to make agriculture vibrant, engage the youth and close up the growing market gap between demand and supply. He started his venture by supplying moringa and grew to selling processed moringa products. As the business grows, he broadened his tentacle and began production, packaging and distribution in commercial quantities and was baffled by the degree of sales he made.
He moved ahead and began to manufacture moringa tea. Little did he know that the tea would today become greatly sought after especially among those who are conscious of remaining healthy! His business has grown and expanded into moringa body butter, capsule, oil, soap and powder. He is as well established in plantain agriculture.
He currently organizes training and workshop programs to help upcoming farmers who are interested in moringa agricultural production. Adeniyi thinks that Nigerian youths who are focused, dogged and determined can make a good living through agriculture.
Fatima Oyia Ademoh
Fatima Oyia Ademoh is Twenty-three years old and one of the final contestants chosen from above 800 young entrepreneurs from 18 African countries for a business ideas competition termed Agribiz4Africa. Those who made it to the semi final were given 1,000 dollar cash grants to test out their agricultural ideas practically.
Fatima became the second runner up for her Youth Agro Entrepreneurs initiative. Her agro business video which won her the prize is about her training program known as Youth Agricbiz training. The training is meant to last for 18 months within which the trainees are paid while they learn. The pay during their program comes from the money they make off their agricultural practicals.
The payment is meant to be given to the students at the end of their training to serve as seed money to start-off their agro business. She started the training in 2012 and is currently working with 5 students with the aim of expanding as time goes on. Her Youth Agro Entrepreneur (YAE) initiative is an innovation which seeks to rebrand agriculture as a feasible, lucrative and honorable profession for agro youth entrepreneurs.
Know any other upcoming agripreneurs? Then send an email with a brief profile and a web link to their projects to chinwe@startupnigeria.net. We would love to celebrate them.
Image credit:traveltonigeriawithoutvisa
