FRESH DAILY NEWSLETTER 18TH - 25TH AUGUST - FOOD AND HEALTH

Good Day,


I hope this reaches you in good health and happiness. This past weeks have been extremely busy weeks for us. The communities we are delivering to are expanding and our well laid delivery plans would need to be re designed to get maximum efficiency on our end which would translate to less fuel consumption and more off time for my staff. I sincerely apologize to those estates we have not been able to keep to a set delivery dates. I PROMISE WE WOULD BE BETTER. We have been able to sign up a new restaurant in Wuse II . They are called Uncle D's restaurant and wholly dedicated to selling organically grown food, the owner is a chef passionate about food it's worth giving them a try at some point.


During last weeks deliveries I have learnt alot about food and health from some of you. It's always taken for granted that food is the best form of medicine, I dedicate this weeks edition of our newsletter to re-enforce that amongst our community. The rates at which stomach ulcers, high blood pressure and diabetes is been diagnosed amongst us has reached epidemic proportions. BP tablets are been bought like sweets, I met a 22 year old patient in a hospital diagnosed with high blood pressure and diabetes. He looked healthy and virile as far as my eyes could see by the prognosis was damning. The good news is that since the problem is our food, we can always reverse the trend. Taking time out to plan a proper diet and delve deeper into our food is the best preventive and curative measures we can take. I heard someone say we are the most overfed and yet under-nourished generation and I totally agree. The food we eat needs to have the right nutrients and released properly without exposing us to toxins. Vegetables and fruits are vital to a diet that promotes optimum health. You can find out more about what vegetables are would aid you in claiming back your health from here

Our range of vegetables are expanding thanks to a generous contribution of organic seeds delivered to us by one of our supporters. We now have more rocket salad seeds which by the way Americans call Aragula for some weird reason, more varieties of lettuce, more tomatoes and yellow pepper. Yes we finally have yellow sweet peppers and in a couple of months we would be filling your boxes with an extra burst of sunshine.


Thanks a lot for choosing us and continue claim back your health and food systems. Building sustainable communities and a better world can only be achieved when we have optimum health.

Peace, Love and Blessings

Kabir Onimisi ADEMOH

CELEBRATING UNITED NATIONS WORLD YOUTH SKILLS DEVELOPMENT DAY

Training young people to become market gardeners and poultry farmers is an innovative answer to stimulating agricultural growth, reducing high unemployment, crime and generating income for self-improvement.
Our training imparts valuable and applicable life skills for all involved.

Entrepreneurial skills will give participants real-life simulations and applications to the agriculture sector. The impact of operating a self-sufficient agricultural training centre like ours will ensure a sustainable revenue stream for youths, while also creating a ‘real-life’ holistic training environment for participants. The Foundation currently has 48 young individuals that have participated in the training so far but plans to train 3000 individuals per quarter (every 3 months) in one centre which would equate to 12,000 youths in a year. In training one individual to create their own market garden, they have the potential to create employment for three individuals when we consider the multiplier effect this would mean we would be able to create a minimum of 36,000 jobs from a year of training in just one centre. Empowering the youth and stimulating the agriculture sector may provoke a high impact value on alleviating poverty and creating a life-long learning generation.

Growing food for our community is our skill and we join the rest of the world to celebrate the UNITED NATIONS WORLD YOUTH SKILL DEVELOPMENT DAY.

Four Agricultural Fields With Goods Job Prospects

When you hear the word “agriculture,” images of a farmer atop his tractor may come to mind, but there are a slew of other related professions to pursue, from engineering to economics.

Earlier this year, a study led by Purdue University determined that in the next five years there would be close to 60,000 job openings annually in fields related to agriculture, food, the environment, and renewable natural resources. We spoke to three professors at Purdue—a major research university located in West Lafayette, Indiana, which is consistently ranked as having one of the top agricultural sciences programs in the country (and world for that matter)—on which professions are emerging in this field.
Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Agricultural engineers can focus on machine design, design, and processes of getting food produced at the farm to your plate, or environmental challenges working with soil, water, and air, says Bernard Engel, head of Purdue’s Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering. Careers include working for equipment manufactures in the agricultural, forestry, construction, and military industries. On the environmental and natural resources end, there are jobs with various government agencies or consulting firms.

Engel says the all of the programs in his department are in high demand right now. “Many of the advances in agriculture right now are coming in this area. The future looks bright as well, given expectations of even more technology being used in agriculture in the future,” he says in an email.

Biological engineers deal with issues that include food processes, things like making food taste better or making it last longer; and cellular and biomolecular engineering, which concerns “finding better ways to get value from by-products or getting energy from biological materials.” The food industry is a major employer. Engel says there is also a demand in research and development for these graduates, not only in the food and pharmaceutical industries, but also in genetic engineering in plants.

Agricultural Systems Management graduates help make agricultural technology easier to understand and use, says Engel, and students in this area are “highly sought after in careers with machinery, grain handling, and precision technology.”

Soil Science

Students can focus on soil ecology, chemistry, physics, conservation, and soil landscapes—mapping the soil attributes of a certain area—among other fields of study. John Graveel, an agronomy professor and director of the Natural Resources and Environmental Science program at Purdue, says job prospects for soil scientists right now are very strong.

“Soil science students are getting some training in geographical information systems [GIS],” Graveel tells Modern Farmer in a phone interview. (GIS is a computer system that is used for collecting and displaying data as it relates to geographic points on the Earth’s surface.) “It’s hugely in demand right now by consulting firms to have people on staff who know how to do GIS.”

Agricultural Economics

Agricultural economics is the practice of applying economic principles to public and private decisions made in the agricultural sector, explains Kenneth Foster, head of Purdue’s Agricultural Economics Department. The field includes sales and marketing, agribusiness, farm management, policy making, and natural resource and energy economics.

Job prospects are “pretty strong” for graduates in this “heavily data and metric driven” field, Foster says. “We placed 98 percent of our graduates last May by the end of the summer. Well over 100 students got jobs.”

Pro tip: Foster says because we’re entering an era of data-driven decision making, “the students who can position themselves to be strong from an analytical and problem-solving perspective are going to have an edge in the market.”

All three professors agree on what students interested in these fields should be focusing on: math and science. You get a bonus for taking part in extracurricular activities that help build leadership, communication, and organizational skills.

Startups

Finally, let’s not forget the entrepreneurs out there who are tech savvy and like to go it alone. Agricultural technology startups are blooming right now. Last year the industry grew by 170 percent and had more than $2.36 billion in investment, according to the website TechCrunch.

“I think the agricultural tech industry is doing well because it’s been overlooked for awhile. I think that’s really going to change and it’s going to continue to grow,” says Jason Aramburu, founder and CEO of Edyn, a startup that makes a smart watering sensor for crops.


By Andrew Amelinckx for Modern Farmer

AfDB Invest $300 Million In Agriculture

The African Development Bank (AfDB) in its continued efforts at providing fund for youths involved in agriculture would be investing about $300 million as part of innovative funding mechanism for youths in agric-led employment initiative. The funding as revealed by the Minister of State for Agriculture, Heineken Lokpobori would help develop the country and encourage youth in aghriculture.

This is news we can only hope the usual challenges of engaging the youth is overcome with this extra push coming into this critical sector of the economy. I would advice serious agro entrepreneurs to keep an eye out for some grant opportunities and loans from AfDB soon as they seek to achieve the mandate laid down with this kind of investment. Anyone with innovative social enterprise projects they wish to develop and possibly gain funding for, they should click here to get help incubating and accelerating such projects.

Have a productive day.

KOA

N12bn Worth of ‘Strange Projects’ Discovered in Agriculture Ministry’s Budget

Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh and his team have reportedly found 386 strange additions worth N12.6 billion in the ministry’s budget proposals – which were believed to have been inserted by the National Assembly.

The said projects were allegedly fixed into the budget after the N40.918 billion earlier proposed had been reduced to N31.618 billion.

A source told the Nation Newspapers that Ogbeh and his team were shocked at the strange inclusion found in the budget after they discovered about 3 projects that aren’t linked with agriculture in the budget.

Some of the projects are erosion control in Federal University, Kashere, Kwadon and Garin Alhaji at N200 million, N100 million and N45 million.

A source reportedly told the news outfit that: “In the Agric sector, 386 projects were inserted, which totalled about N12.6 billion.”

“While N5.3 billion of the main ministry’s budget is taken away, about N7.2 billion is infused into almost 40 agencies and parastatals of the agric ministry.”

Also, 58 boreholes for 29 rural communities worth N175 million as well as another 50 boreholes for 50 communities worth N150.4 million were also added to the budget.

According to the source “curiously, the communities are not named.”

“Similarly, of the N90 million allocated to the Cocoa Research Institute in Ibadan, various sums are allotted the following ýof the seven sub-heads: provision of rubber seeds and seedling in Igbotako, Okitipupa, (N5m), training and empowerment of youths in poultry farming in Oluyole, Ibadan(N20m) and provision of cassava processing plant in Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo State(N10m).”

“Of the four sub-heads under the Rubber Research Institute, Benin, two areas are equally outside the focus of rubber. These are training and empowerment of youth and women in fish farming in Ndokwa, Delta State as well as fabrication and installation of cassava processing machines in Owan West Local Government Area of Edo State at N10m and N20m.”


“Also, N1 billion was allocated to two projects in Kwara South Senatorial District, including the construction of rural roads for N700 million as well as empowerment of women and youths in agricultural products for N300 million.”

Meanwhile, a member of the House of Representatives Appropriation Committee has revealed that the projects were fixed into the budget without the knowledge of the committee’s members.

“We are happy that the Speaker hinted that the issue of the budget will be revisited this week. But what some of us want is the understanding of Nigerians on this matter.”

“The issue of this controversial budget has to be carefully done this time around because some persons who think they were smarter had already led the entire parliament into collision with the executive and indeed Nigerians.”

“They have done this by inserting projects without the knowledge of others either in the appropriation or relevant sectoral committees and presenting same as the collective decision of the house or the entire parliament.”

“To the best of my knowledge, as a member of both the appropriation and agriculture committees in the House of Representatives, I did know that we reduced the ministry’s N40.9 billion proposal by about N9.3 billion.”

“But the surprise here is that while a decision was not taken where to infuse the reduced sum, some of us were surprised to see that so many projects were passed on to the President for assent, which he declined.”

“The implication is that if the President did not insist on details, most National Assembly members would not have had the opportunity to know what went behind them.”

The Budget Minister, Udoma Udoma is expected to meet with the president on Monday, April 18 to brief him on the impasse.


Article by

Adebayo Emuleomo for ynaija.com

Youth Unemployment - Perspective

My experience working on the YAE project since 2012, exposed me to a variety of salient issues youths in Nigeria are confronted with. Some of these findings have shaped my perspective on the unemployment issue.

1. OPPORTUNITIES - During the initial research phase of the YAE project, a detailed survey was carried out to gauge the depth of the unemployment problems. The most noticeable issue exposed by the survey was the chronic lack of opportunities for the youth population. The lack of balanced participation and representation of young people amongst the policy-makers made it extremely hard to propagate laws that included youth problems amongst the policies been passed. Majority of young people I interacted with were keen on gaining useful employment mainly driven by the desire to gain independence and self-expression. The level of willingness demonstrated by most of the individuals was not proportional to the opportunities available. There are very few youth specific jobs created by the policy makers in the country to address youth unemployment and poverty. A pervading belief of solving youth poverty and empowerment by creating jobs for their parents was evident. This is main driven by the cultural view of empowering the parents and assuming that it translates as empowerment for their children.

2. INAPPROAPRIATE TRAINING AND SKILL SET - The 21st century has experienced incredible development in science and technology which has affected the socio-economic landscape globally. The job market is constantly shifting and evolving to match these developments. Job definitions are changing and valued skills set have evolved to the point that its completely contrary to those been proffered to youths in academic institutions. A lot of young people are been trained through formal education along the models and syllabuses created to suit the economy of the last century. The education we received was modeled after an economy that was driven on quantization and classification. Jobs had defined roles and expectations. A science student focused on learning the theories and concept valuable and isolated to the scientific world without the need to learn business skills, social sciences or consumer behavior while a student of the arts faculty would focus on their discipline without any understanding of the telecommunications, environmental sciences. The current global economy on the contrary places high value on dynamic and versatile personnel due to the complex overlap and interaction of various disciplines for a given job. This has led to an increase in young people spending valuable years in educational training and then ushered into a global economy that has no need for their skills set. Another factor that is often muted is the penchant for parents to coerce their children into studying disciplines that are traditionally viewed as reputable professions while the interest, the zeal and natural flair for that field might not be present in the individual.

3. THE ENTREPRENEURIAL APPEAL – The focus on entrepreneurship as a tool of battling unemployment has been prevalent amongst majority of developmental organizations with interest in youth unemployment. This trend has become so popular because it’s a solution that typifies the bottom –up approach. Young individuals without jobs and a steady means of income invariably turn to various forms of entrepreneurship. This is usually an option driven by necessity. The increasing number of young individuals going through formal education and decreasing number job of opportunities has forced young individuals to create their own jobs. This option has become very popular with the high level of job insecurity. Jobs are created and destroyed at a faster rate than ever before in our history this has made the appeal of entrepreneurship stronger for young individuals that are about to start their careers. This factor along with the desire to express their own identity and beliefs in the global socio-economic landscape has led to a lot of youth wanting to become entrepreneurs. As a young person, we believe we have novel ideas, new ways of viewing the world’s challenges and new needs that can only be serviced by creating our own enterprises to solve them.

4. GLOBAL PEER LINKAGE - My experiences working with agriculture as a developmental tool in Nigeria has exposed me to the vast possibilities that lay abound in entrepreneurship in the country and the continent at large. Re-positioning the African youths to partake in the entrepreneurial pursuit and creating an enabling environment for businesses to thrive would play a massive role in helping Africa overcome its last major challenge outside of peace and security – youth unemployment. Attracting individuals and corporations with the know-how of developing enterprises and businesses in Africa would only be possible with strong ground work in investment finance, business networking opportunities and developing indigenous capabilities to trade with their global counterparts. A strong framework of business development across and between African countries would need to be in existence for this vision to be achieved.

Fuel, Food And Optimism

The fuel scarcity is hitting everyone hard. The small to medium scale businesses are really struggling as well and like the rest of the country we are begging for respite. Fuel scarcity also poses a major threat to our food security. The cost of transporting food round the country would increase which would also spike the food costs. Not good news at all at the moment. Losses are been incurred everywhere in the country.

I came across a news article regarding these losses from the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) which made it clear to the government that the issue of unavailability of petroleum products and its importation portrays our country in bad light. It shows us up as an incompetent manager of our resources.

“NNPC from the comments of it’s officials may have given up. We may seriously need to divest our refineries. Businesses and our economy are being battered from all sides. Forex, energy supply, infrastructure, security concerns. The list is endless.” He said
Businesses especially MSME’s have lost over N30B through inadequate supply of petroleum products. Labour productivity is low as employees have stayed off work since the hike of fares by providers and when they come, they are always late. NNPC banned the use of containers to buy petrol without considering that most households and small businesses run on petrol generating sets. This has forced them to close shops. Buying with kegs is not the cause of scarcity but inadequate supply of products.
According to Tony Ejinkeonye, NNPC over the years has not proffered any meaningful solution. They are fond of treating symptoms instead of addressing the issue, he concluded.

The fate of a business owner in Nigeria at the moment reminds me of a Late Koffi Awnoor verse;
"If I turn here, the rain beats me
If I turn there the sun burns me
The firewood of this world Is for only those who can take heart
That is why not all can gather it"


Naija, we are still pregnant with hope!

Meet The Modern Farmer From Uganda

Lanyero Family Plot
Gulu Region, Northern Uganda


Christine Lanyero was only a teenager in 1987 when Joseph Kony’s brutal Lord’s Resistance Army occupied the Gulu-region village where her family farmed. After the LRA killed Lanyero’s father, she walked nearly 250 miles to a refugee camp outside the city of Kampala.

But in August of 2014, the camp’s land was sold for development. With financial aid from a U.S.-based nonprofit, Lanyero—along with 31 other women and their families—journeyed north to their ancestral lands, which are once again considered safe.


Lanyero, her husband, and her five children moved into a new mud-brick and thatch hut steps away from where she grew up, and she planted maize, groundnuts, cassava, and soybeans. Like the majority of women in Northern Uganda, Lanyero digs food (dig is the local word for farm) to feed her household, and often walks long distances to sell surplus at regional markets. Every day, she carries jerricans over a mile each way to the nearest borehole to gather water. “It is difficult to start over and make a life again,” she says. “This has not been easy. The digging is challenging, and the market is far away. Everything is far away.”

Christine is just an example of a growing trend of modern farmers who seem to be characterized by the sheer will to grow food against the odds of environment, social hindrances and lack of access to land either due to cost or land grab challenges. Christine's story shows us that there is a way and more importantly she isn't alone; there are many people in her situation and many individuals and organizations that have dedicated their time and effort to help work together and solve these problems.

Do you know any modern farmers around you that would benefit from support and a network to help improve their farming methods and improve quality of life, please contact me and lets see what we can all achieve together. Lets keep growing.
KOA

The nonprofit After the Bulldozers—founded by a 16-year-old girl in Danville, California—helped Lanyero and more than 200 others.

Kuje Community Solves Energy Problems With Innovative Waste Management

The off-grid community of Rije in Kuje Area Council Abuja, have an extra reason to be hopeful towards the future as a social enterprise initiates a waste to energy project in their community.

Ajima Farms and General Enterprises Nigeria Limited has embarked on the mission of solving the energy challenges facing off-grid rural communities. This mission is currently been achieved by the launch of their Waste-2-Watts Off-Grid solution in partnership with The United States African Development Foundation (USADF) under the Power Africa Challenge. The project would provide electricity, water and bio-gas cooking stoves all powered by the agricultural wastes generated around Kuje which happens to be the hub of farming activities in Abuja.






The project manager, Miss Fatima Oyiza Ademoh and her team of young experts in an interview with the newsmen stated that providing cheap and clean electricity to the community will improve so many aspects of their lives but more importantly it will boost their agricultural productivity because farming is their major source of income. The electricity will be used to process and preserve some of their agricultural produce, boast their productivity and spur several business ventures.’’ She noted.

Ajima Farms would provide bio-gas cooking stoves to help tackle issues of using fossil fuels and firewood which the villagers currently source by cutting down economic trees like shea butter to cook. The project would actively engage the youths in the community during the construction of the bio-gas plant and also trained to manage and operate the biogas technology.

The chief of Rije community, Mr Ibrahim Atakunyamwa thanked the company for choosing Rije to start-off this project while promising to secure and maintain the facilities adding that the project was a step in the right direction for his community.He said the project was a divine intervention after waiting so long for the government to provide such amenities but yielded no result.
``This organization came to us last year and promised to embark on this project but we didn’t believe it will come to reality because many have come with similar promises without yielding any result.
``We will make sure we secure all the facilities to be used for the project and will sensitize our women on the dangers of deforestation and climate change.’’ The chief said.

Ajima farms plans to expand this project to other off grid communities across Abuja and the country. Energy poverty is a massive challenge faced by the country, Kuje alone has 47 off grid communities while the amount of wastes dumped into landfills across the country continues to rise. This project would help address this challenges with their innovative approach to waste management

Q & A : Does Agriculture Need A New Revolution ? Interview with Head of IFAD

ROME, Apr 16 2014 (IPS) 

- The Millennium Development Goals deadline of 2015 is fast approaching, but according to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), poverty still afflicts one in seven people — and one in eight still goes to bed hungry.Together with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP), IFAD unveiled the results of their joint work Apr. 3 to develop five targets to be incorporated in the post-2015 development agenda."We have a growing global population and a deteriorating natural resource base." -- Kanayo F. Nwanze, president of IFAD annouced along with the new targets of IFAD.
These targets include access to adequate food all year round for all people; ending malnutrition in all its forms with special attention to stunting; making all food production systems more productive, sustainable, resilient and efficient; securing access for all small food producers, especially women, to inputs, knowledge and resources to increase their productivity; and more efficient post-production food systems that reduce the global rate of food loss and waste by 50 percent.



IPS correspondent Silvia Giannelli interviewed Kanayo F. Nwanze, president of IFAD, on the role of rural poverty and food security in shaping the current debate on the definition of a new development agenda.

Q: Do you think it is time to rethink the strategies to achieve the Millennium Development Goals?
A: It’s not only that I think, I know it. And that is why we have Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that are being fashioned. The SDGs are an idea that was born in the Rio Conference on Sustainable Development in 2012. The crafting of a new global development agenda is a unique opportunity to refocus policy, investments and partnerships on inclusive and sustainable rural transformation.The intent is to produce a new, more inclusive and more sustainable set of global development objectives that have application to all countries. These goals – once agreed by governments – would take effect after the current MDGs expire in 2015.And measurement will be crucial if we are to achieve what we set out. This is why we are talking about universality but in a local context. The SDGs will be for all countries, developing and developed alike. But their application will need to respond to the reality on the ground, which will vary from country to country.

Q: How do the five targets revealed this month fit in this discussion on the post-2015 development goals?
A: The proposed targets and indicators are intended to provide governments with an informed tool that they use when discussing the precise nature and make-up of the SDGs related to sustainable agriculture, food security and nutrition.These are five critical issues for a universal, transformative agenda that is ambitious but also realistic and adaptable to different country and regional contexts. The targets can fit under a possible dedicated goal but also under other goals. So, it is for governments to decide whether or not they wish to include these targets in the SDGs.

Q: Why does agriculture represent such a critical aspect within the post-2015 development agenda?
A: We have a growing global population and a deteriorating natural resource base, which means more people to feed with less water and farmland. And climate change threatens to alter the whole geography of agriculture and food systems on a global scale.It is clear that we need a new revolution in agriculture, to transform the sector so it can fully live up to its potential to drive sustainable development. Target areas should address universal and context-specific challenges, but context-adapted approaches and agendas are the building blocks for any effort to feed the world.

Q: Why is the focus on rural areas so important in order to overcome inequality?
A: The world is becoming increasingly urban, yet cities are still fed by the people working the land in rural areas. And it is in those rural areas where 76 percent of the world’s poor live.At IFAD we see that the gap between rich and poor is primarily a gap between urban and rural. Those who migrate to urban areas, oftentimes do so in the belief that life will be better in the urban cities.However they get caught up in the bulging slums of cities, they lose their social cohesion which is provided by rural communities and they go into slums, they become nothing but breeding ground for social turmoil and desperation. One only has to look at what is happening today in what was described as the ‘Arab spring’.


Q: But beyond the issue of exclusion and turmoil, why is key to addressing rural poverty?
A: Because the rural space is basically where the food is produced: in the developing world 80 percent in some cases 90 percent of all food that is consumed domestically is produced in rural areas. Food agriculture does not grow in cities, it grows in rural areas, and the livelihoods of the majority of the rural population provide not only food, it provides employment, it provides economic empowerment,[…] and social cohesion.Essentially, if we do not invest in rural areas through agricultural development we are dismantling the foundations for national security, not just only food security. And that translates into not just national security but also global security and global peace.

Q: What risks are we facing in terms of global security, if we don’t face and take concrete action to ensure food security?
A: We just need to go back to what happened in 2007 and 2008: the global food price crisis, as it is said, and how circumstances culminated in what happened in 40 countries around the world where there were food riots.Those riots were the results of inaction that occurred in some 25-30 years due to these investments in agriculture and the imbalances in trade, across countries and across continents. Forty countries experienced serious problems with food riots, and they brought down two governments, one in Haiti and another one in Madagascar. […] We’ve seen it, [and] it continues to repeat itself.

Q: What role are developed countries expected to play in the achievement of these five targets?
A: All countries will have an essential role to play in achieving the SDGs – whatever they end up looking like. Countries have agreed that this is a “universal” agenda and developed countries’ commitment will have to extend beyond ODA [Official Development Assistance] alone.At IFAD we [are] seeing that development is moving beyond aid to achieve self-sustaining, private sector-led inclusive growth and development. For example, in Africa, generated revenue shot up from 141 billion dollars in 2002 to 520 billion dollars in 2011. This is truly a universal challenge, but it also requires local and country-level ownership and international collaboration at all levels. 

How To Fund Your Small Farm Business Start-Up

The sceptics have been quick to point out to me that growing food is a relatively cheap thing to do. Farming is part of the Africans DNA, it is our culture, and it is in our history - Just throw some seeds in the soil, add water and watch the plants sprout. It is that simple.
But growing food commercially to feed hundreds or thousands of people isn’t cheap. Farming is expensive. Tractors cost millions of naira, barns don’t build themselves, personnel require high salaries to keep them motivated and you can’t grow marketing materials. Like any business, starting a farm from scratch takes resources. Agro-entrepreneurship is neither cheap nor easy but it is extremely fulfilling and profitable.
For young people venturing into agro-entrepreneurship, finding money to pay for those resources can be difficult, even impossible. Traditionally, farmers have had far fewer lending options available to them compared to other areas of the economy. Obtaining a loan from the bank or other financial institutions has historically required documented farming experience and lots of collateral (typically large expanse of lands). Agricultural loans from commercial banks or farm credit agencies were aimed towards giant agricultural corporations, and haven’t taken young farmer seriously in the past. This are part of the problems limiting youths floating more agro-enterprises start-up.
In the vacuum created by these barriers, the government and various non-profits and business people have stepped in to try and ensure a future for young farmers with creative new funding models to help solve these problems

Here are a few ideas for raising funds for establishing a small farm business.

1. Bring In Your Rich Friend, Family

In an industrial agricultural system set up to feed billions of people and grow profit for shareholders, small-scale farmers don’t stand a chance raising the much needed capital to set up an efficient enterprise. The equipments and processes need to be put in place requires money. Hard cash, which most small scale farmers don’t have a lot off ( nor do the youths being encouraged to take up farming as an option to unemployment) is needed. Involving your rich friends or family is the traditional way of starting a fundraiser for a business idea. Agriculture is no different. It is true that most rich people would rather not engage in farming due to the general stigma towards farming as a poor person’s survival technique but most rich folks would invest in farming business if you have a concrete business plan clearly stating the return in investment. Forget the fear of your idea being stolen by a wealthier, greedier friend. Agriculture is not such a novel idea and some would rather die than do the work. It is okay, that’s why you are an entrepreneur. As the saying goes; man must chop! Therefore food business is always good business.



2. Reach Out To Rural Leaders

A decade ago, in Abuja a choice plot of land could be obtained from a traditional ruler in your area if he deems you worthy. Be it through honest service to the community, underhand payments, marrying his daughter, putting his sons through school or just about any act to get yourself in his or her good books. These powers to allocate land at will have been taken away by AGIS for a more modern system of land allocation fitting for a 21st century city that Abuja aims to be. That is all prim and proper, but these traditional leaders of rural communities still control and own vast expanse of lands which most of them are left unpopulated and uncultivated. While Abuja is going ultra-modern, majority of the country is still ruled by rural leaders with the power to allocate lands. It is worthy to always remember as an educated young person in the city searching for opportunities that big population is big business and majority of Nigerians live in rural communities. Reaching out to these leaders can be a genuine opportunity to own a piece of land to start your farm business, plus they also control large amounts of human resources. Empowering a traditional ruler in rural areas through setting up agro-enterprises under their watch can boost their popularity amongst their subjects and help create opportunities for the community and what is more you get to make start your business with the two key resources needed for agriculture – land and labour.

3. Connect With Other Would-Be Farmers and Set-up a Co-operative

Self - preservation is the first law of nature. Networking and meeting up with like -minded individuals who are looking to start a farm biz is vital. Joining a co-operative is an innovative way of sourcing for funds and there are various interesting groups out there helping to build their own vision and enterprises. These co-operatives operate varying financial models which could help you start plus applying for a loan as a group also increases your chances of convincing the banks and loan institutions

4. Apply For Fund/Grants/Loans Specifically Aimed At Farmers

A major downside to taking loans from financial institutions are the high interest rates incurred from taking these monies they offer. This is slowly being overcome as the government and various agencies and organizations are beginning to realize the potential of agricultural business and its importance to prosperity. There are specific loans aimed at funding young people. The Bank of Agriculture has been active, National Export Import (NEXIM) Bank, and various Microfinance Banks have loans specifically tailored to the peculiar business of agriculture. Take the bold step and speak to one of these organizations you had be genuinely surprised. Those involved in National Youth Service Corp (NYSC ) can speak to their CDS officials and find out about non interest loans available to them. For a global approach, there are crowd funding websites like AgFunder that can help your kick-starter campaign.

Visiting A Farmer Training Centre -THE SONGHAI EXPERIENCE

 On the 23rd March earlier this year I was informed I would be joining the rest of the Youth Agro Entrepreneurs research on a farm visit. Below are excerpts of my report detailing my experience at Songhai farm in Porto Novo, Benin Republic.

The main objective of Songhai is to train young agricultural entrepreneurs who, once established, become pillars of community - capable of commanding respect and attracting the surrounding populations to the new kind of agriculture practiced on Songhai farm. This training does not stop with the acquisition and mastery of techniques of agricultural production. Songhai continuously follows up with its trained students from the pre-establishment stage through to the establishment of their farms and beyond. All the various departmental activities of Songhai converge directly or indirectly to these established farmers. At the second level of training, there is a team of workers charged solely with the follow-up/accompaniment of the farmers. This is the reason the farmers are situated at the center of Songhai's organizational chart - all the different sectors contribute to the development of the farmers.

Challenges Of Songhai

The Songhai Centre faces a few salient challenges operating under the present model as gathered from the visit.   Training program needs to incorporate Information Technology (IT) skills into the current syllabus to prepare the trainees for dealing with the present reality of entrepreneurship programs globally. The intriguing aspect to this issue is that, there is an Internet café present on the premises but only used for commercial purposes to cater to demands of visitors/tourists. Interviews with Personnel and Trainees indicate a wish to see this aspect of training introduced on the program.



The impact of the activities been carried out at the Centre, on the personnel and the immediate community can easily be noticed. Strategically located a few hundred metres away from Porto Novo's central market, it serves a useful source of obtaining foodstuffs and farm produce for retail purposes without incurring steep transportstion fees. Motivation was generally high amongst staff and all adhered to strict time managed regimes. The circular approcah to production adopted by the Integrated Farming model also extends to personnel. Staff rotation between various departments and sections of the farm created a high level of team spirit and commraderie. Individual staff all seemed to have sufficient information to be able to perform the duties of various department thus creating a very robust staff  pool. The challenges faced by the present operating model of the Centre need to be addressed in expansion or replicating of a similar enterprise. Information technology is ubiquitous to every sector of global economy. Developing agro entreprenuers that would go on to be successful and impact on their immediate societies, need to be IT savvy to a certain rudimentary level. Motivation amongst students and job security can be increased by deploying a model that allows the trainees to earn in the process of learning. Trainees with astute entrepreneural skills gain thus stand a chance of saving a kickstarter for their proposal, no matter how small it might be. The integrated farming model operated at Songhai Centre Porto Novo is a feasible approach to boosting the productivity of small to medium scale farming and developing a sustainable agricutural enterprises for the youths. Its a model that is gaining popularity fast and is evident in the profileration of its branches across neighbouring Nigeria and other West african countries. The future of integrated farming looks bright and I would recommend a visit to the nearest site to anyone interested in venturing into agro-entrepreneurship.

Business and Technology Amongst Young Agro-Entrepreneurs

Bit by bit, the agro-entrepreneurship visions being loaded into the minds and media channels of young people in Nigeria is beginning to seep its way into the information and technology market as it has managed in the past to penetrate other sectors of the economy.

Youths in Nigeria have being putting in major efforts to create a youth driven agricultural sector, and not suprisingly we are using our most potent asset as an anchor unto the field - social media, information and technology. The explosion of youth interest in agriculture in Nigeris has many roots and one major catalyst - unemployment. This catalyzing factor has led to a gradual gravitation of the mind set of young people towards creating our own jobs. In this brave new approach, the under-developed agricultural sector provides us with a relatively young and fertile pitching grounds (pardon the pun). Agricultural business is in need of major investment and infusion of fresh ideas fit for a 21st century economy. Informed and technologically savvy youths have lapped on to the opportunity to service this sector with information and internet support.

The link between timely and effective information sourcing to the performance of a business organization have been established. The agriculture sector firmly perched on the transformation bandwagon sweeping the country has relied on the support and technological skills of the Nigerian youth in setting up innovative ventures based around agro-consultancy using websites, blogspots amd social media. This young start-up companies provide services ranging from providing farmers with operational information on farm related issues, staff recruitment, training and even agronomic information.

In my work with YAE, I have come across quite a few very interesting agro-entrepreneurs whose activities rely heavily on the information and internet support to farmers and the farm business.


G6Farms. Is one of such companies. ( http://www.g6farms.com)

with their promise of prcesion solution for your growing needs, the comoany aims to to be recognized as the most highly respected agricultural Company in the world, leading and excelling in the programs and services delivered to meet the needs for the growing local and global food and agricultural systems. Their services include Aquaponics training;a revolutionary technological concept that was created as a way to mimic mutually beneficial natural system. In these system, plants within hydroponic components utilize nutrient rich fish waste as fertilizer,in doing so the plants grow serviced by wastewater allowing for its re-use in the fish-rearing component. They also do commodity marketing and general farm consultancy.


Agropreneursnaija.wordpress.com .

Agropreneur Naija is the social media outlet for AGROPRENEUR NIGERIA an Agribusiness enterprise in Nigeria, West Africa.Our goal is to change the mind set of youth towards agriculture by promoting it as a business while at the same time providing support for start ups, existing young farmers and agro-entrepreneurs and sharing information and resources that create opportunities for growth, inspires and provides mentorship.


This budding field of enterprise has been aptly termed as Agricultural Communications, with academic courses in recognition of this niche market being offered by some institutions. Its an interesting point to note that most entrepreneurs and businesses involved in this area are currently operating in almost complete oblivion of each others works. There is a low level of self awareness amongst the social media population ofnigeria in comparison to entertainment, fashion and political activism bloggers.This low level of self awareness is indicative of the relative newness of these ventures. The main purpose of this article is to address this situation. Greater awareness of  agro-entrepreneurs amongst the online community of Nigeria will improve the practice, and  success of farming and agricultural business amongst youths.
Do you know any bloggers, startup companies, blogs and organizations involved with agro-entrepreneurships? Please do contact us or drop us a message on youthagroents@gmail.com

CALL FOR COLLABORATORS, PARTNERS & VOLUNTEERS

ARE YOU BETWEEN THE AGE GROUP OF 18 –35 ?
ARE YOU PASSIONATE ABOUT CREATING WEALTH ?
DO YOU HAVE GREAT COMMUNICATION SKILLS ?
LOOKING FOR PRODUCTIVE NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES
INTERESTED IN JOINING A PROJECT THAT MAKES A REAL DIFFERENCE ?

We are looking for motivated and committed individuals/organizations to
collaborate with Youth Agro Entrepreneurs (YAE) in organizing outreach
programmes and events.

YAE is a social enterprise incubator that aims to train a new generation of farmers by building sustainable agricultural training centres on farm sites across the region. YAE is a training centre that teaches agricultural practices and business skills required to become a successful agro-entrepreneur. We are convinced that this will contribute to reducing levels of youth unemployment in Nigeria. Interested parties should please contact us for specific details.

The project is funded by The Rockefeller Foundation and Ajima Farms Nigeria Ltd and was awarded the Social Innovation Award in 2012.

Interested candidates should send an email to youthagroent@gmail.com

Explaining The Basics Of The GES scheme

On the 13th of May 2013, the Agriculture and Rural Development department of FCTA -Abuja initiated this years Grow Enhancement Support scheme popularly known as GES. I have been monitoring the process by visiting the centres with with the rest of the team, as part of our research. This has led to a stream of messages from interested NGOs, young farmers, software developers and technerds interested in the scheme for varying reasons. I have therefore hurriedly put together an overview of the process. I hope you find this useful.

A schematic explanation of the processes for the current subsidized agro inputs sales under the GES scheme operated by the Federal Government.

The Growth Enhancement Support Scheme is the governments scheme aimed at
•Improving agriculture productivity and food security
•Reducing cost of Agro-Inputs delivery to farmers by ensuring transparency and efficiency The program is funded by the Federal Government of Nigeria, IFDC and USAID.

Operationals 

E-wallets : A voucher in a text format recieved on a mobile phone by registered farmer that entitles the bearer of the text access to buying discounted inputs ( fertilizers, seeds and chemicals) for a limited period of time. The farmer therefore buys inputs directly from independent agro dealers who verify they are registered farmers with the government and have recieved a voucher on their "e-wallet". Note that the mobile device used becomes the wallet which should contain the voucher (sms) that allows you to buy at 50% discount.

Agro-Dealers : They are registered dealers with the government after fulfilling a set of requirements. Approximately 2-3 dealers in each Area Council

Eligible Farmers : These are farmers who have registered under the on going farmer registration exercise. The mobile phine numbers of this farmers are obtained and stored in the database and used as the raw data for developing the e-wallet. Their farms should be smaller than 3 hectares Passport photographs 18 and above. At each Agro dealers shop, the government has an agent stationed by the sales point, with helpline staff from the communication provider (Cellulant) along with monitoring teams from interested and involved NGOs.

• Farmers that recieve a voucher in their e-wallet arrive at the centre 
• The codes that make up the voucher is presented to agro dealer 
• Helpline staff teach farmers how to redeem their inputs by texting their voucher number to a specific code e.g. text voucher number to 437 (MTN) 438 (Etisalat) etc. 
• Farmer sends his voucher through text message and agrodealer gets alerted via text message 
• The message authorizes agrodealer to sell inputs 
• Agrodealer sends back text message to confirm sales and update database of how many farmers attended to. 
• Verification call back or text back is carried out by Cellulant to the dealer and the phon of the government agent stationed st the centre 
• Farmer pays money to dealer and claims his inputs

Explaining Colour Codes of Arrows Green arrows denote permission to carry out command Yellow arrows are seeking permission/purchase Amber colours are for confirming verification Blue is for close seal for transactions. 

Do you think you have a brilliant and innovative idea or software thst can improve this process ? Get in touch with us.

Courtesy of Kabir Onimisi Ademoh
Youth Agro Entrepreneur Communication Officer
Email: k.o.ademoh@gmail.com
Twitter @onimsiwordsmith

Snail Farming In Nigeria (THY Consultancy)

Nigeria's economic recovery programmes have necessitated a radical shift from total dependence on government for job to self-employment. One such attractive area for self-employment is snail rearing. It is a great money-spinning business that can provide a substantial source of protein to complement Nigerian carbohydrate meals. Sadly Nigerians inclination to go into business in the fields where thousands have already made their fortune has led to the ulter neglect of such lucrative area of snail farming in Nigeria or export at international market. You see snails stick to a tree stump, hide under stones or leaves, what impression do you have of them? When you see them displayed in the market places, do you view them as one of those edible animals meant for the soup pot? Many people see snails here and there. Some people take it as meat. But quite a number don't know how to go about rearing them. This is made worse because snails, which belong to the family of animal called MOLLUSCA, is an hermaphrodite. It has both the female and male sexual organs; so one cannot really distinguish between the male and female specie of it.

Many who are into snail farming in Nigeria are also unwilling to let others know about the farming methodology. The techniques are often shrouded in secrecy. But the plain truth is that snail farming is as easy as ABC. The only thing the snails may constantly demand from you is your attention and care. They hardly fall sick. You don't have to buy their food and you may not have to spend much to create an abode for them. The beauty of it all is that the snails reproduce rapidly. They are capable of producing hundreds of eggs, which hatch into snails. It is now possible to produce 1,000,000 snails worth more than N5 million twice a year.

This lucrative figures are made possible because of the availability of very highly prolific ACHATINA ACHATINA species of snails, which lay 200-400 in one batch 2-3 times a year in Nigeria.

HUGE INCOME EARNING OPPORTUNITY

One of the Personnal Entrepreneurial Characteristic (PEC) that makes a big different between a successful entrepreneur and an unsuccessful one is opportunity seeking. That is seeking, recognizing and acting on new business opportunities. This is the use of contacts or networking to obtain useful information. It is in view of the above fact that, we at THE THY CONSULTING are introducing this wonderful opportunity to you. This is golden opportunity that will enable readers to create for themselves, the targets and lofty goals for huge success.

In order to assist a lot of Nigerians to tap into this highly lucrative venture, our organization, THE THY CONSULTING, has written a manual titled "THE BEAUTY OF SNAIL FARMING",and also produced a VCD on PRACTICAL COMMERCIAL SNAIL BREEDING IN NIGERIA, to enable them know all the techniques and secrets of commercial snail farming. Our organization has spent huge money, time and efforts to acquire valuable information through attending seminars, conferences, surfing Internet and researches on how to set up commercial snail farming successfully. All necessary, compressive and step by step guide on how to embark on the business and make huge financial success from it as we are currently enjoying; are contained in the well researched manual on "THE BEAUTY OF SNAIL FARMING." and the VCD on PRACTICAL COMMERCIAL SNAIL BREEDING IN NIGERIA.

If you are interested in obtaining this manual, please contact me at
THE THY CONSULTING
4, Ismail AbdulAzeez Street, Singer Bus Stop, Ewupe-Ijaniye, Sango Ota, Ogun State.
Tel: 08023050835 ask for Ismail AbdulAzeez or Kabirat AbdulAzeez.
E-mail:the_thy2002@yahoo.co.uk

Wrtitten by By Ismail AbdulAzeez

FAO Award For Nigeria's Work Towards Ensuring Food Security

The Food and Agricultural Organization has commended and handed an award to the Federal Government of Nigeria for its sustained work towards ensuring food security to its citizenry. FAO data shows a noticeable drop in number of chronically under nourished individuals in the country from 19.31 million. (1990 -1992) to 13.38 million (2010-2012) which translates to a drop from 19.3% of the population to an impressive 8.5%. This positive figures indicates that the country is moving faster than the forecasted targets of 9.7% by 2015 in line with the MDG projects

The Minister of Agriculture & Rural Development Adewunmi Adesina confirmed this while handing over the award to the President. In his speech, he acknowledged the role played by policies enacted by the present government to ensure a consistent push towards reaching the goal of improved domestic food production industries and food security.

9 million metric tons of food has been added to the production chain within the last two years to our domestic food supply, and the success of dry season rice production in the country was a major talking point at the FAO summit in Rome earlier this week. In the last two years, Nigeria has managed to produce 1.8 million metric tons of rice per day which is 55 per cent of the target set for achieving self sufficiency in rice production by 2015.

The Minister, clearly excited by the award still had an eye on the greater picture stating that as long as any Nigerian goes to bed without food, the job of the government was still not completed. The President, Jonathan Goodluck was very appreciative of the minister and his team. 

"Let me use this unique opportunity to tell Nigerians and the rest of the World that we appreciate this award. We are yet to reach where we want to go but surely, we will get there."

YAE NEEDS AND OPPORTUNITY ANALYSIS AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD (ANNOUNCEMENT)

The Youth Agro Entrepreneurs are pleased to announce the availability of our Needs & Opportunity Analysis report for download.

This report assesses the current state of the agriculture industry and youths’ interests and attitudes toward farming in Nigeria. For our assessment, we conducted a survey, and the 302 respondents, including key individuals in the industry, have revealed much about agricultural priorities, trends, and the needs to reach youth and government planning committees to ensure a holistic and sustainable impact.

The overall outcome we expect to achieve is to encourage and engage youth in pursuing agriculture as a meaningful and viable career by operating a self-sufficient training center which would ensure a sustainable revenue stream.

We believe this needs analysis study, would contribute to the overall vision by helping establish a knowledge base, setting benchmarks, networking with key people, identifying gaps, limitations, and achievements, and devising objectives and long-term goals.

We trust that you will find these informative and useful in helping us develop strategic partnerships with agricultural stakeholders, policy-makers, advocates and investors

Please click here to download a full copy of the report.

FMITI & UNIDO Entrepreneurship and Careers Fair 2013

 An entrepreneurship and career fairs aimed at university and Secondary school graduates is scheduled to hold in Abuja on the 27th of June 2013 and 4th July 2013 in Lagos. This would be the first event of its kind hosted by Nigeria’s Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment (FMITI) in partnership with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO). The fair aims to host and train over 1,000 university and secondary school graduates between the ages of 18 – 35 years.The programme which will take place at the Velodrome, Abuja and at the Landmark Village.

This programme aims to help train young Nigerians who are willing to start their own businesses.The event will also help pool job seekers and recruiters. It will also showcase successful entrepreneurs and promote alternative forms of employment, including self employment. Young Agro Entrepreneurs across the country are urged to try and mark these dates on your calendars. The event is shaping up to be a very productive and empowering fair for those that would particiapte. With over 30 collaborating companies and 15 federal ministries engaged, this would definitely be one of the largest entrepreneur training fair to be hosted this year.

According to a statement released over the weekend by UNIDO, young Nigerians who were eager to start their own businesses would have a chance to meet and interact with entrepreneurs and representatives of organisations, institutions and companies during the fairs.“UNIDO and FMITI are to utilise the partnership to establish public-private knowledge sharing platforms that will allow unemployed youths to access job opportunities in local businesses and institutions across the country.’’UNIDO said an inter-ministerial committee has been inaugurated in February by the Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Samuel Ortom to this effect. 

A few of the key compaies, ministroes and aganecies involved are :

The ministries of Education,
Labour and Productivity,
Women Affairs,
Youth Development.
The Industrial Training Fund (ITF),
National Board for Technical Education,
National Committee on Job Creation,
National Directorate of Employment (NDE)
National University Commission (NUC)
Small and Medium Enterprises Development of Nigeria (SMEDAN),
Bank of Industry (BOI)
National Board of Technical Education (NABTEC)
Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA)
Manufacturing Association of Nigeria (MAN)
Nigeria Chamber of Commerce Cooperatives Industries, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA).

“Where Is My Food Coming From” Agro-Entrepreneurship and Youth Unemployment In Nigeria

Nigeria is home to the largest African population on the continent, with a vast majority of its population been classified as young people (0-35) . As youth unemployment rises and an increase in numbers of young people migrating to cities continues, infrastructure is being strained; this is most evident in Lagos (former country’s capital). According to one report, Lagos is the second fastest growing city in Africa and seventh in the world.

Government initiatives and aides cannot meet the demands placed on roads, sanitation, education, health facilities and employment in the urban setting. General agricultural performance within the country is dismal, forcing the youth to leave the fields in search of stable employment in populated cities. This situation is contributing to a generation of youth dysfunction and disorientation (Adeyemi, 2012).

The majority of Nigerian youth are neither interested in farming nor in agricultural professions. The inability to attain an agricultural “revolution” or increase the desire of youth to take up agriculture is created by the continued rural-urban migration that has been taking place over the last few decades. Employment opportunities for youth continue to decline, but expansion of the agricultural sector will bring major improvements.

The Youth Agro Entrepreneurs (YAE) is a social enterprise incubator that aims to rebrand farming as a viable profession for a new generation of farmers by teaching Agricultural practices and business skills required to support the development of a sustainable agricultural enterprise.

In a study conducted by YAE, it was established that youths in Nigeria are eager to secure employment in this sector, but they need to be assured that agriculture can be a better means of earning money. The report explores the current climate of the agricultural industry and why agriculture has become unattractive for young people who are leaving school.

Agricultural training has to be revamped not only to make food available to millions of poor and hungry people, but also to create opportunities for youth to produce cash crops for local and international markets.

There is tremendous deficiency in youth employment engagement initiatives, as well as a crippled agricultural industry. Addressing the deficiencies will be a huge feat. However, with innovative, creative, and meaningful decisions by leaders, advocates, and policy-makers, the nation can begin to provide the necessary training, tools, incentives, and information to motivate the youth to participate in a viable and productive industry—agriculture.

“Where Is My Food Coming From” is a poetry/video fusion by Spoken Word poet, Onimisi “Wordsmith” Ademoh aimed at drawing the attention of the public to an important discussion which would help shape the policies and future of these sector of our emerging economy.


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ONIMISI
onimisi.wordsmith@gmail.com
http://www.onimisi.com
onimsiwordsmith@twitter

Written & Performed by Onimisi
Directed & Edited by Benedict Raja Obazele
Sound Engineering by Stephen Ameh Jnr
Photography by Blaize Itodo
Make Up by Grace Eno Egbo-Egbo
Executive Prodcuer & Sponsors : Youth Agro Entrepreneurs.