15 Lucrative Business Ideas To Explore In The Agri Sector

4. E-commerce:
Technology has come to stay. The modern customer’s taste for convenience and reliability is unmatched. E-commerce is increasingly becoming one of the diversified marketing strategies modern farmers and agribusinesses can explore to expand their market reach and increase sales because it provides convenience to the customer. It allows farmers to sell directly to consumers without having to deal with any of the traditional intermediaries, thereby capturing a larger market size and profits.

You can explore the e-commerce as a farmer or simply as someone who sees the potential and form alliances with farmers to explore it together. Social media is also one medium you can use to bring convenience to consumers by adding value to some food products and, market and sell to them. Products like “tom-brown,” roasted peanuts, peanut paste, palm oil, fresh vegetables, and seafoods are some of the most patronised food products on the social media spaces these days.

Oh wait, how could I have forgotten this all important one! You see, selling fried, dried or smoked fishes is an option to consider too – some commonest fishes in this category are anchovies, herrings, shrimps, tilapia, “one-mouth thousand” and gborvilolo (abeg, I don’t know the English name wae). Few individuals are already cashing out of this, you can too. You can also explore platforms like Jiji, as well as target the elite groups in the cities and supply to them directly as well.

E-commerce enables you to sell almost any agricultural products, but your ability to focus on few niche products will be of greater advantage. Platforms like asinyo.com, farmerline.com, completefarmer.com are exploring this space. Could you become the amazon of agricultural produce in Africa and beyond? It’s possible. Operating an e-commerce business in the food space, however, presents some inherent challenges, but with a careful planning and execution, it can be a highly lucrative way for farmers and other agripreneurs to grow sales and reach wider customers beyond their geographical locations.

5. Sale of agricultural inputs:
Agriculture is gradually spreading like wild fire in Africa, welcoming many entrepreneurs who are heavily investing in the sector. An appreciable number of the youth, who hitherto, lacked interest in the sector are proudly embracing farming as careers. More education is ongoing to break ancient stereotypes associated with farming. It stands to reason that agriculture would experience unprecedented growth in Africa in the coming years.

This growth will come with high demands for agricultural inputs and machineries. You can take advantage of this growing sector and start a business that supplies general agricultural inputs such as seeds, chemicals, fertilizers, weedicides, feeds, tools, etc. There is a growing preference for eco-friendly fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides which do not poison the crops or the surrounding land and water resources. Take advantage of this growing market too.

Farming is no longer a profession of hoe and cutlass. Several innovative and simple modern farming tools and equipment are gradually entering the African markets. With the current rate of advocacy and education, urging farmers to embrace mechanisation and technology, coupled with the rate at which the youth are willing to venture into farming, these modern tools and machineries will be in high demand in the coming years. You can study the market and become a dealer in them.

6. Manufacturing / Production of Agricultural Inputs:

Most of the agricultural inputs in the African markets are imported. Can you meet this demand locally? The advantage is, a number of African governments are putting policies in place to advance agriculture and its industrialisation to boost their local economies. Set up a manufacturing company that manufactures simple farm machineries, tools and equipment.

Farmers spend a great percentage of their capital on feeds and fertilisers. You can gain a higher competitive advantage by producing cheaper quality animal / poultry feeds or fertilisers locally. Also, because of rising health concerns, any product with an “organic” angle to it is bound to gain attention and patronage. Look out for opportunities in organic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, etc. and produce them locally. Production of high-yielding hybrid seeds that can withstand the local conditions also has a great market potential.

With quality competitive product, great marketing and sale strategies, and the right partnerships, you can compete with the foreign brands, and in a matter of time, you will bite deep of the $1trillion cake.

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

[email protected]