Business is all about taking risks to invest in a venture with a view to a making profit.
The profit should be enough to cover the cost of production, labour and other inputs and still remain substantial amount for the investor for the labour of his hands.
Agribusiness presents vast opportunities to go into raging from primary production such as cassava farming, plantain plantation, tomato production, yam production to many others.
However, this type of business has one characteristic – it is a one-off thing. The farmers make money from selling their harvests and it is at giveaway prices, especially during the season of plenty or glut.
In that case, the farmer might lose out completely. That was the case of many farmers in 2005 when many farmers borrowed huge sums from banks to produce cassava in line with the government’s cassava mass production programme.
At the end of the day, they produced at a loss instead of profit mainly because there were no off-takers.
However, a farmer can get optimum benefits from his venture if he adds value to his primary produce. This is what is referred to as value addition or processing. For instance, the cassava farmer instead of selling his cassava in tubers makes provision for processing them into chips, garri, glucose or ethanol.
This is bound to earn more for his efforts. In the same vein, if a fish farmer processes his fish into smoked fish for local consumption or dries it for export; the poultry farmer processes his chickens into frozen foods; the plantain farmer instead of selling off his bunches of plantain, processes them into chips or fufu, he would make more money for himself.
If you are into tomato farming, you should be thinking about processing them into tin tomato, or making it in powdery form for longer shelf life.
If you are a soya beans farmer you think about producing soymilk or soy powder.
There are many other value chains with great potential to create wealth through processing.
Research
Plan to succeed; It is said that he who fails to plan plans to fail. Through research, you will find a niche in the agribusiness; determine its marketability and profitability before starting off.
Establish who your potential customers would be; find out what they want and produce it for them.
If there are no prospects of getting many customers for the envisaged business, drop the idea because it will not fly.
Technology
To get maximum satisfaction and to run a successful agribusiness, it is necessary to employ improved technology.
Through research and consultations with experts in your chosen value chain, you can acquire machines that have the capacity to produce faster, cleaner and give your product a longer shelf life. Embrace technology.
Training
Go for entrepreneurship training to develop competence in your chosen area.
Training is necessary to avoid mistakes that will lead to wastages and loss of scarce resources.
The training should include packaging and marketing.
Attend workshops and seminars. They are necessary for a successful business.
Job Creation
Agribusiness is touted to have the potential to create the needed jobs especially for our teeming youths.
This will forever remain in the realm of rhetoric unless we move away from primary production to secondary production.
Call it agro-processing, if you like. There are a lot of jobs out there along the agric value chain.
If you desire to make it in agribusiness in 2025, and you have some capital, go for processing after harvesting your produce.
You will agree with me that those who are producing and selling plantain chips make more money than plantain farmers.
Let me know about what you are thinking about this 2025. Where can we help you?
Drop me line via celestineamoke@yahoo.com.
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