What is Agribusiness?
Agribusiness has to do with agriculture done strictly on commercial principles. It is the business of agricultural production. Agribusiness also has to do with the group of industries dealing with agricultural produce and other related services required in farming.
It includes chemicals used in agriculture, breeding of animals, crop production, and distribution of produce, farm machinery, processing, seed supply, as well as marketing and retail sales. You’ll need to learn about types of spiders most common that can affect your crops.
All agents and institutions that contribute to and influence the food and fibre value chain are part of the agribusiness system.
Agribusiness in Nigeria
The term, “agribusiness” is used simply as a combination of agriculture and business. This captures all activities and disciplines that are involved in modern food production.
Agribusiness Ideas for 2019
Agriculture contributes over 25% of GDP in Nigeria. Even during the recession in Nigeria, Agriculture was one of the sectors or industries that experienced growth. This is coupled with the fact that the federal government in recent years are investing more in this sector. If there was any sector you should consider investing in, then it is agriculture. Haven said this, many do not know how to get involved in the agriculture sector in Nigeria. This article will show you the various ways you can get started on Agribusiness in Nigeria. You must know that there is a lot of capital, provided by the government and even private individuals available to agribusiness entrepreneurs
Opportunities in agriculture
To better study the nature of agribusiness in Nigeria, it must be well put in the context of the Nigerian economy. The supply of raw materials to the agro-industrial processing and manufacturing sector is a primary role of agriculture.
This role also drives other sectors of agriculture such as food supplying, employment opportunities, income generation, foreign exchange earnings via export.
In Nigeria, there has not been much success linking agriculture and the industrial sector. This is due to frequent changes in government policies. One that readily comes to mind is the import substitution strategies of the pre-1986 era that discouraged industrialists from patronizing locally produced raw materials.
Thе laws are nеvеr constant аnd аrе соntіnuоuѕlу еvоlvіng іn ѕmаll and ѕubtlе ways thаt саn саuѕе you to suddenly bе оut of compliance wіth thе lаw even thоugh уоur buѕіnеѕѕ hаѕ nоt сhаngеd! Thіѕ іѕ dоnе to ассоmmоdаtе сhаngеѕ аnd nеw rеԛuіrеmеntѕ of the еvеr-сhаngіng economy аnd mаrkеt еnvіrоnmеnt, so be ready to contact your local business transaction law firm for professional legal assistance. Keeping track оf аll these changes саn be a dаuntіng tаѕk thаt business оwnеrѕ саnnоt hаndlе by thеmѕеlvеѕ, this is when Corporate transaction attorneys come in, to help make everything easier.
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Raw Material Sourcing
Local sourcing of raw materials for industrial purposes come with the following benefits:
1.Generation of farm-level employment and income especially for rural dwellers.
2.Providing farmers with the benefits of modern technologies, quality control, marketing, and other modern services.
There are five strategies used by Agri-business firms in Nigeria to source for agricultural raw materials. These are:
-Direct purchase from the market
-Use of buying agents
-Direct purchase from farmers or producers
-Use of out-growers or contract farming
-Own production wherein firms set up their own farm enterprises.
Contract out-grower schemes and direct purchase from farmers have a positive impact on rural incomes but are not popular in the Nigerian agribusiness sector. The use of buying agents and direct purchase from the open market is quite popular amongst agribusiness firms.
Agribusinesses such as livestock feeds and beer agribusiness sub-sectors mostly source their agricultural raw materials by direct purchase from farmers. This encourages farm agribusiness linkages. On the other hand, businesses such as flour-milling industries, confectionery, vegetable oil, and pharmaceuticals have a very low impact of farm agribusiness linkages on employment and rural income.
There are other agribusiness ventures currently existing in the agribusiness sector with huge demand gaps. Below are some of the agribusinesses you should consider in 2019.
- Animal Pest Control: Animal pests like bats, beetles and rodents pose a huge threat to farmers. They cause a lot of damage to farm produce and affect yields.
Researching and developing innovative solutions to combat the problem of animal pests on food produce and harvest yield especially without affecting and quality of the farm produce would be a good way to get into the Agri-business sector in Nigeria.
- Seed Specialist: The seeds used in planting are of utmost importance as they affect the quality of food or farm produce grown. With the increasing uproar against GMO farm produce, a business committed to producing quality seedlings which are safe for human consumption and resistant to disease would be a good agribusiness idea to consider.
- Organic Fertilizer: The use of chemical fertilizer on plants has been known to leave traces of toxic chemicals in food and cause groundwater contamination that is harmful to lives. However, the other option is organic fertilizers. These are well-packaged and free of harmful chemicals and would be well received by farmers and food enthusiasts.
- Drone Services: Yes, drones are used in drone video, photography, product delivery etc. Many do not know that they can also be deployed in agriculture for activities such as spraying pesticides on crops; monitoring farmlands from a far distance above problem patterns that are not easily revealed at eye level will be seen. Such problems include irrigation problems, soil variation and pest and fungal infestations.
- Analytics: Nigerian Farmers have to get involved with lots of data and information as part of their job. They have to analyze and make accurate decisions on variables such as temperature, rainfall conditions, underground water concentration, harvest yields, commodity prices etc. A Software and application that can help with these analyses will go a long way in helping farmers make decisions easier by presenting data variables in an easy-to-understand format.
- Agricultural Actuary: Just like any other business, Agriculture and farming, involves a lot of risks. A business that would help farmers know how to analyze the risks involved in farming would be a good agribusiness idea. Coming up with innovative agricultural solutions to handle these risks will also be welcome.
- Water Conservation: Agriculture and farming involve the use of a large quantity of water. Due to climate change, there is a shortage of quality water available for farming. is A business that can help farmers have a good animal yield and harvest with a minimum amount of water would be in high demand.
- Water Purification: A lot of water waste occurs on farms. What is more interesting is that most of this wastewater can be treated and purified for further usage on the farm. A business committed to the manufacturing and sale of compact water purification units would be a very good agribusiness idea in Nigeria.