‘Agribusiness is professionals’ next frontier of investment’

Onyeani Nwosu, a retired banker now chief executive, Lic Resources and Concepts Limited, a management consulting firm, recently established a farming business based on professional research experts’ advice that agribusiness is the next frontier of investment in Nigeria. He speaks on the venture in this interview with OLUYINKA ALAWODE.

Starting out

In 2012, we commissioned our consultants to do a study of the agriculture sector of the Nigerian economy. Their submissions encouraged us to attend the Agritech International Fair that held in Tel Aviv, Israel in 2012. Apart from attending the fair, we also did an agro tour of Israel where I learnt about the kibbutz farming system, the irrigation system they used, improved crop varieties and lots more. Subsequently, in 2013, we set up a farm called Green Town Farms Ltd to rear poultry and cultivate cassava, palm plantation, maize and melon.

We produced broilers (chicken meat) in the livestock section. Our oil palm plantation has just been established and the trees will start yielding in due course. The other crops will be harvested within the year. Our global objective is to establish an integrated farming system where waste in one section of the farm would become raw materials in another section.

Target market

Our immediate target is local markets within Ozu Abam and environs, Umuahia, Abia State, and neighbouring states. When we attain full capacity, we shall export to other countries. Also, there are lots of food processing industries in Aba and other industrialised cities within the country that have indicated interest in our products.

Challenges

For the local markets, our products will be conveyed by road transport to the markets. The road infrastructure to our farms is poor, there is low electricity supply to the farm, so we are generating our own power. There is also difficulty in accessing funds, especially single digit interest loans and problems of manpower. The youths prefer to lazy about in the cities than work on the farms located in the rural areas. In fact, insecurity is another risk factor in this business due to high level of unemployment.

Future prospects

A lot of emphasis is being laid on agricultural development and agribusiness by the various tiers of government. So, agribusiness is professionals’ next frontier of investment in Nigeria. The United Nations Millennium Development Goals among other things harped on food security, poverty eradication and capacity building. This has since received the buy-in of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration through the efforts of the office of the senior special assistance to the president on MDGs, the Bank of Industry (BoI) and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture.

These efforts definitely need to be complemented by private investors, especially those with huge investments in other areas and those that have the capacity to bridge the gap in resource allocations. Agriculture like other sectors require the four main factor inputs of capital, labour or manpower, materials and entrepreneurship. Except people stop seeing it as farming for livelihood and start seeing it as a business, the realisation of our dream for this sector will continue to be a mirage.

Advice

The various tiers of government need to do more in infrastructure development in the rural areas where farming is done and increase access to single digit loans for farmers. The governments also need to establish enduring partnership with private investors as well as use farming as a tool to reduce youth restiveness through capacity building and resettlement.