‘Only passion will sustain you in business as an entrepreneur’

Rotimi Williams is the founder of Kereksuk Rice Farms located in Tunga, Nasarawa State.  Williams’ 45,000 hectare-farm is the second largest commercial rice farm in Nigeria in terms of land size. His rise to the top remains a very big lesson to the youth and demonstrates that there is a lot of untapped potential in agriculture. The 36-year-old farmer tells ODINAKA ANUDU and JOSEPHINE OKOJIE, in this interview, that being an entrepreneur requires grit and caution.

Why did you venture into agriculture?

I studied Economics at my graduate and post graduate levels and one thing you learn is that if you are looking at making money as a capitalist, you must be looking at feeding the masses. And if you are looking to make money in an inelastic way, then you must look at food because no matter what is happening in the economy or society, people must consume.  I have a knack for adventure. I always wanted to change lives and still achieve the goals that I set for myself, which was to grow rice, make money and impact lives. This was why I found myself in Nasarawa State farms. Currently, we have farmed 800 hectares of rice and are working on getting funds within the next eighteen months so as to scale up production to 1,000 hectares.

We are into paddy production, but now, we have procured a medium-sized processing mill and from the next planting season, we will start processing and bagging our own rice.

How did come about this idea of going into agriculture?

I actively started in 2012. I came in as a consultant to raise funds for a firm for its rice project and my interest grew, because I was visiting a lot of rice farms regularly and reading about rice projects. I raised the funds but we couldn’t access it. The foreign bank that was supposed to fund us pulled out after signing the first draft project facility agreement. So we were stuck. I then made a proposal to the owner of the project to allow me to start small on the farm and whatever was made would be shared on a 50/50 basis. This was how I got involved in rice production.

We started at a small scale. There was a portion of the land that we previously cleared, so we started with 50 hectares and later increased to 100 hectares in the following planting seasoning. We recorded losses on both occasions. In 2015, we did 1000 hectares and that was when the Lagdo Dam in Cameroun got flooded and the entire area was flooded. So we lost much of everything we had put in– amounting to about 4000 tons of rice. We couldn’t plant as much as we did in 2015 in the first half of 2016 because of the loss we incurred, owing to flood. But right now, we are looking at expanding and are seeking funds to carry out expansion this year. We have gone through the lessons in rice farming in terms of mistakes, theft and the likes.

How much have you invested so far?

I have invested about N450million so far. I started about the same time the government renewed its interest in rice production.

When we started the business, we had a vision on the entire community. Our idea was to make money and change the lives of the people of the community. So our approach was more of labour and less of equipment. But we found that there was high level of theft. You would go to the farm and the engine blocks would be missing. The tyres of the tractors would be missing, and you realised that it was the same engine blocks and tyres they stole that they were selling back to you. We realised that it was more profitable to approach the tractor association to lease tractors we needed. This took away the risk of theft and maintenance off us. When it came to harvesting, we used labour, but we later realised that it cost us much and took longer time to do harvesting. We discovered that if we used machines all through, then we were taking away jobs from people in the community. So we decided to use both equipment and labour to do a portion.

Do you help to train farmers in the community?

We have agronomists that train farmers on the job. We are training a lot of Fulani women in rice production. They take half the cost of what the men would take. After training, I supply them inputs to start their own rice farm. We have trained about 810 women so far. Women are the marginalised group and within them are the Fulani women who are marginalised within the group. When we talk about unemployed women, nobody ever talks about Fulani women.

What should government do to attract the youth to agriculture?

Government should look at what will appeal to the youth to attract them into farming. The non-educated youth will always be attracted to farming crops, while the educated youth will always be attracted to investments in the value chain. So government needs to identify this split.

How does it feel being an entrepreneur?

The experience of entrepreneurs is painful. A lot of people don’t know what entrepreneurs go through. People see me and say, ‘Rotimi, you are making a lot of money’. But they don’t know what I go through. On my way to the farm, I have been shut out twice. When on the farm, I have to carry a licenced gun for security reasons. The nearest police station to you in remote areas is two hours away. It is passion that has kept me in business as an entrepreneur, despite the losses I have incurred. As an entrepreneur, you need to understand the right insurance and right financial mix.

How are you coping with recession?

Food is quite inelastic. A lot of people in the community where I farm are consuming my rice before it gets to the market. Many are consuming local rice now than before. Where the recession affects me as a rice farmer is the aspect of inputs and finance. Prices of all inputs have increased and banks that are meant to give us loans are affected by recession, so it is very difficult for them to give us funds. Even when they do, they have to price the risk and that cost of the funds will be high, which makes it not viable for me.

What advice do you have for younger Nigerians who are looking for something to do?

Start small to incur losses at very low levels. Make mistakes, understand the processes and don’t be too quick to take loans. Learn not to repeat the same mistakes.

 How do you see your industry in the near future?

Agriculture will be very interesting. I don’t think the economic downturn has reached its lowest point. I think it’s going to get worse and prices will go up. A lot of people will lose their jobs but agriculture will make a tremendous impact.