15 Lucrative Business Ideas To Explore In The Agri Sector

7. Agri-tech:
Africa is gradually moving away from the traditional ways of farming to a more advanced technological and innovative ways which will optimise human labour, improve agricultural practises, increase output and profit, and reduce negative environmental impacts. This means demand for modern machineries and technologies, as well as tools for green and sustainable agricultural practices will be in high demand. Can you meet these demands?

Can you identify a peculiar problem the agricultural sector in Africa is confronted with and develop solutions using modern technologies? Can you find smarter and cheaper ways of integrating robotics, internet of things, automation, drone technologies, AI, data analytics, sensing technologies, hardware and software systems, and user friendly applications into agriculture to optimise farming practises and reduce environmental impact, increase crop yields, reduce post-harvest losses, connect farmers and buyers, and increase their profit? Are you a hand-on tech lover?

If your answer is yes, go ahead and join firms such as Farmerline, Agrocenta, Agro Innova, and Sesi technologies to create user-friendly technological solutions to the pressing problems our farmers face. If your product truly solves a peculiar problem, after shedding some sweat and tears for a while, you will come smiling in a couple of years. Of course, biting on your share of the $1 trillion cake!

8. Agro-processing / Value Addition
One of the biggest bane of Africa is our inability to process our natural resources into finished products. The agricultural sector suffers the same fate. Most of our processed food products are imported. We simply do not add any value to most of our farm produce. Any business that can meet the ever growing local demand in the food processing sector is bound to make profits.

It can be from simple industrial processing of cassava into flour, dough or flakes (gari); tomato into paste; plantain or potato into chips; fruits into fruit concentrates or juice; peanuts into paste; to the production of spices, seasonings, sugar, sorbitol, beverages, oil, etc. Find ways to add value to our local produce. Set up factories to process and add value to our cotton, cocoa, rice, cassava, sorghum, tomato, fish, livestock, etc. Can you add value to, and package our traditional delicacies? The agro processing industry in Africa is huge. Get in if you can!! For as long as there is available market for it, there is money to be made.

9. Building Storage Facilities:
Post-harvest losses in Africa is huge! With lack of proper storage facilities, most farm produce rot away during the bumper seasons, landing a lot farmers into huge debts. Building and operating modern storage facilities where farmers or businesses can store their agri-produce will help increase their shelf lives, reduce post-harvest losses and in return, reward you with huge profits.

A proper crop storage facility prevents decay of farm produce, reduces weight loss to the minimum, reduces environmental footprint due to less food waste, acts as a buffer for the market and most importantly, it allows you to supply quality products to the market in peak price periods where you would make much returns on your investment. There are specific crop storage for all manner of crops – potatoes, yam, onions, carrots, tomatoes, maize, peanuts, etc.

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

[email protected]