15 Lucrative Business Ideas To Explore In The Agri Sector – Part 1

“There is no culture without agriculture! The world’s future billionaires are Africans, youth in agriculture particularly.” ~ Dr Susan Tatah.

The potential worth of agriculture and agribusiness in Africa, including the production, processing and distribution of agricultural products is estimated to reach $1trillion by 2030. That’s huge!! The agricultural sector offers a lot of opportunity to our Continent, but it is often ignored or undermined. Wouldn’t it be amazing to have a bit of this $1trillion cake? Come with me let me show you some viable opportunities you can explore. Perhaps, it would be your journey to becoming one of the future billionaires Dr Susan talked about.

1. Commercial Farming:
If there is any lesson the Russian-Ukraine war has taught Africa, it is that, we are not self-sufficient and are under the threat of secure food insecurity. World population is estimated to reach over 9 billion by 2050 and Africa alone is expected to home about 2.5 billion of this number. Global food production is expected to grow by 70% to be able to feed this population. However, the rate of food growth in Africa is projected to exceed the global rate to be able to avert mass hunger in Africa. Food is the most basic necessity of man. Increasing population means increasing demand for food. Who fills in this gap? The farmer!

Depending on your pocket, go into large scale commercial farming. However, by personal experience, if you lack prior experience in farming, I will advise you start on a small scale and grow it; also, rather than being an absentee farmer, be actively involved. This will afford you time to learn, understand the craft, and make less costly mistakes. Crop, livestock, poultry and / or fish farming are all viable options you can explore. Farming is a very complex and delicate venture but when done right, it gets very lucrative. If you want to cash in big, move away from the traditional methods of farming and adopt modern practises, mechanisation, and technologies.

2. Wholesaling and Distribution of Produce:

You don’t need to be a farmer to make money from farming. Every farmer’s headache is getting ready markets for their produce. There are individuals or businesses that want these produce but don’t have direct access to the farmers or simply are not willing to go through that hustle. You can become the bridge, buying directly in bulk from the farmers and wholesaling to these people in the cities.

First, by getting the market women, supermarkets, hotels or restaurants that need these produce on large scale, and the farmers who produce such crops. Once you’ve established these two relationships, you buy from the farmers at the farm-gate price, put your quota on it, and supply to your customers in the cities. Don’t rely on just one farmer, get multiple of them to work with. You can do this for any crop, livestock or poultry products. It all depends on your hunger to succeed. You can even present yourself as the farmer. In business parlance, it is called using “Other People’s Inventories.” The point is, eventually, the farmers have ready market for their produce and your customers also have a reliable source of supply – you.

I personally know individuals who are making fortunes from this, sometimes at the expense of the poor farmers, sadly. Yeah, just like every business, sometimes, you may make losses but if you study the market trends well, you will thrive well in this space. After all, you have the advantage of formal education. Use it to your gain. Remember, you don’t have to start big. Start small and grow. Buying and storing maize, yam, and pepper (dry) during bumper seasons and reselling them during lean seasons is also another alternative to cash out big after few months.

You can also explore wholesaling of processed food products such as tomato pastes, milk, beverages, biscuits, rice, cooking oil, flour, sugar, etc. by establishing partnership deals with the food processing companies in the country and offer to be their wholesaler in your region or locality.

3. Agri-agents:
Few months ago, I was in Keta, and in a conversation with a farmer, he told me about another innovative trend some young men have devised to make some money. Mostly, market women come directly from Accra to buy from the farmers. But these guys have found a way of convincing the market women to have them do the buying for them. They go from farm to farm and if any crop is due for harvesting, they inform the women. Alternatively, if the women need a particular produce they inform them and they go searching.

I was told these agri-agents (a name coined by me) often negotiate prices with the farmers and put their quota on them. They call the market women with the price, the women send the money when they are satisfied with the price, and they buy, package and send. For instance, if a bag of carrot is selling for 600ghc, they may tell the women it is going for 620ghc. Imagine they buy 50 bags, they have made a profit of 1000ghc, aside the “stipend” the women would pay them. Call them the “guru-boys” of farming, and you would be right.

Looks interesting, huh? Maybe, you are a young person staying in a farming community and can barely survive or need some capital to start your own farm (or another business), you can consider this. Once you make up your mind, the universe will answer your “How do I go about it?”

There is a Hero in you; unleash it.
Elorm Hermann,
Co-Founder, CADMA AgriSolutions

[email protected]