Bad Experiences of venturing into Farming Business in Nigeria – Factors hindering Investors from opening new Businesses in Nigeria

There are many bad experiences I have encountered since I ventured into Farming Business in Nigeria. The Factors hindering Investors from opening new Businesses in Nigeria are numerous. By the time you start putting structures around your business in Nigeria, you won’t understand how far this country still needs to go.

Factors hindering Investors from opening new Businesses in Nigeria

Before we can start talking about figures and numbers; Road, Power, and Security need to be fixed first, then we can start dabbling into humanitarian services.

Without these three, industrialization will be zero in Nigeria, we’ll result to import everything.

My business in my new location is just 2 months plus, I’ve spent almost 200k on fixing my car, on getting here, I had to change all my car arms and legs to be able to enjoy smooth driving here

I take my Elepac generator to a repairer every week, I’m now considering getting a bigger one cos I use it to pump water almost every day

At my former place, I might not use my generator for 2 months because the farm is situated in a big town and electricity is fair there. I’m at a new site now, and I run on fuel every day, it’s difficult to operate a business here without being mobile, the stress will kill someone cos settlements are far from each other and not many commercial vehicles operate here.

I’ve been tempted to just dump this farming business and face my real estate business and any digital-related services where I can solely operate at home

I’m just tired 😩

I’ll do whatever it takes for any candidate that promises to fix roads and power.

They can tax every other thing to heaven but let them just provide this basic stuff, without them development will take forever to happen in Nigeria.

…

If you’re not born into wealth, becoming wealthy might be a very difficult hurdle to cross.

It can come by luck or by taking a huge risk, waiting on luck can be forever, what is usually guaranteed here is taking a risk

Forget what the media is telling you about Nigeria, if you have a flourishing business here, nothing concerns you with the economy, If they like to sell petrol at 1k, or the dollar rises above 1k, it’s your buyer that’ll bear the brunt of an increased cost of production. You’ll always be like the wave, what you buy is what you sell.

The only concern I have about Nigeria is insecurity and terrible roads, these are amenities an individual can’t buy.

Taking a risk to be wealthy might be as simple as taking huge loans or other related stuff that’ll take your business/career to another level.

It might also be by collaboration, venturing into a high risky business ventures, or other legal ways of making money.

If you take a loan and now have the right structures you needed, the day you pay the loan is the beginning of your total financial freedom, the day you now have the inner peace that comes with becoming wealthy.

Becoming wealthy is not by having billions of dollars stacked up in an account somewhere, it’s by having the right parameters to make money every time you needed it.

As a farmer, I’m wealthy because I have the right structures for my farming business and also know how to sell my farm products anytime I wish at a good price; this is the fountain I needed to become wealthy.

To some of us that have taken the risk already, may we now find the inner peace we’re craving to enjoy the milk and honey in Nigeria

In the quest seeking financial freedom, consider your inner piece first, don’t bite more than you can chew.

May God help us all

Problems Farmers Face in Nigeria

Farming is not for the faint-hearted. A few years back, it use to be “Farmers decry the dubious effect of middlemen”

This was a seminar topic for 400level students while in the University.

But with the advent of social media, any farmer depending on middlemen is still operating like our forefathers. Social media to the rescue, I’m a full-time farmer, and 99% of my customers are directly found on social media. Social Media afford me the ability to sell directly to end-users at a good price

Another project topic now is; “Farmers decry the unavailability of farm workers”

Getting a good farm worker is like finding a needle in a haystack.

Despite my raise in my salary pay to 70k, many job seekers applied, I employed one, he resumed, gave him some money to stock up, and he ran away the 3rd day with the foodstuffs.

I’ve employed more than 5person in the last 2month, they’ll resume, ran away on the 2nd/3rd day. I had to get a security man with a license to carry a gun to man the farm.

Also installing a 360° motion sensor CCTV camera to monitor the farm day and night on mobile 24/7

It’s been me and my wife doing the whole labour stuff.

From my research, what I found out is that many youths are interested in farming but none want to stay in the bush.

More than 80% of the major farms in Nigeria are located on the outskirts of the town.

Any farm you see in the town, check their records, that farm must have been existing for ages, it was a development that crawl up to her. Many youths prefer to work in the town and earn 20k than staying in the bush to earn 70k.

At my former farm, I don’t ever lack workers despite paying 15k per month and no feeding.

I’m even one of the farmers paying very well with that 15k per month, my colleagues around me are paying within 10 to 12k per month. My farm was in the main town, directly facing the main road.

Why am I saying all this?

A prospect called me, he wanted to set up a fish and plantain farm. He was looking for cheaper land, I told him straight, the farther you’re in the forest, the more problem you’re pilling up for yourself.

First, you may likely not see any worker to work with you. Secondly, bad roads will frustrate vehicular movement to your farm.

Third, power will kill you, I pump water every day on my farm, and generator maintenance alone is killing me, not to talk of fuel.

I’m currently looking for N2.5m to install a solar plant at the farm.

I advise him, it’s penny wise, pounds foolish if you go set up a farm in the forest, if don’t have dangbana Shoko in your head, you’ll end up abandoning the farm at last.

Land purchase is once, close eye buy land in a small village where people are living if you don’t have for a small town.

And mind you, the size of the land doesn’t matter, one plot of a well-managed farm is more productive than a badly managed 10acres farm

With that, you have hope that light will come one day, govt will remember the road one day, and you may never lack workers as people in the village will be working on your farm as long as you’re paying well.