How to Start Farming Business in Nigeria and Make Millions from it

How to Start Farming Business in Nigeria. One of the basic things humans need in life is food. This is because without food (including water) nobody can be alive. Natural food is mainly produced through farming.

Farming is a common activity both to many Nigerian households both in rural and urban centers. It can also come in many different ways which include fish farming, poultry farming, animal husbandry, etc.

Also, farming can come in two major scales: small scale (subsistence) and big scale (commercial).

To choose the nature and scale of farming to go into depends largely on your capital. It is important to state categorically that no farming business can be done without capital, and the scale of such farming business depends on the amount of money you have at your disposal so as to fund it.

This piece on how to start farming in Nigeria will serve as an eye opener to many Nigerian youths, most especially graduates, who are still see farming in Nigeria as a job exclusively reserved for old men and women in rural areas, and not meant for them.

Do you wish to know how to start farming in Nigeria? Follow these simple guides to make that dream a reality. And I assure you, you’ll you’ll glad you read the piece.
Step 1: Make that decision

You have to decide the type and scale of farming you wish to go into. I will assume that my readers understand the ideas behind scale.

Well, for further clarification, scale has to do with deciding whether you are going into subsistence or commercial farming. I believe it is safe to assume that anyone reading this piece will like to go into commercial farming which entails having enough for oneself and excess for sale.

Therefore, you must also understand that this scale of farming is mostly capital intensive as you may be requiring some farm implements to make it easier for you.

If you are thinking of how to start farming in Nigeria another thing you have to take into consideration is type of farming you wish to go into. Is it fish farming? Is it animal husbandry (rearing of goats, rabbits, piglets, etc.)?

Would you like to go into plant cultivation (yam, maize, vegetables, cassava, oil palm, onions)? Therefore, there must be an area of farming that interests you and then you should take the next step.
Step 2. Do a survey

You have to do a little research to learn more about the type of farming you wish to go into and its requirements.

Go meet people who are into similar farming business to find out how they make it. Also, go to the Internet, library and other information centers to read about the farming you wish to go into.

For example, if you wish to go into fish farming, you have to find out about the feed, fingerlings, the weather conditions they survive in, price, land acquisition for pond design, accessibility of medical experts in cases of mass deaths of fingerlings, the supplements they need, the drugs, markets for your products, pond design and nature of water.

Remember that it is not safe to assume anything when you are to start farming in Nigeria unless you have concrete information about that type of farming else you shall record a huge loss.

Therefore, if you are thinking of how to start farming in Nigeria, there are many areas of farming you may go into, but you must do a survey to get all the information you need to succeed in your new farming business.

After this, you can design a good farming business plan on how to start farming in Nigeria with reference to your area of interest defining everything you need and take the next step.
Step 3. Source for capital for your Farm

One thing every reader must understand is that you do not go into farming business without money because it is the driving force behind every idea.

Thinking of how to start farming in Nigeria is not enough as you will need money to translate your dreams into reality else they will always remain dreams that may never come true.

Therefore, you need capital to finance farming in Nigeria especially when it is on commercial scale as I made mention earlier.

There are many sources of generating capital for farming in Nigeria and they include personal savings, friends, family, NGOs, relatives, commercial banks and Bank of Agriculture/Industry, partnership, etc.

The amount of capital at your disposal determines how big or small your faming business will be. So, it is crucial you explore all avenues of generating money to fund start farming in Nigeria.

Remember that with good farming business plan/proposal, you can get bank of industry to support your farming business and if you have an existing account with Bank of Agriculture, they may finance your farming business.
Step 4. Acquire the necessary things

The next line of action on how to start farming in Nigeria is to acquire the necessary things you will need to execute your farming business idea.

This step is a very important stage, and remember that you cannot jump into this stage without thoroughly passing through the steps earlier discussed.

Let us assume you wish to go into yam and cassava cultivation. Then you will need to acquire the piece of land for growing them, the tubers, sticks for staking the yam, manure or fertilizer (if need be), a defined source of water (depending on the period of the year), machetes (for clearing the land if you cannot afford machines), hoes (for making ridges in place of farm implements), consider the cost of labour (in a situation where you cannot do it alone) and many other things you found out in step 2 above.

Note that how mechanized your cassava/yam farming business is depends on your capital at your disposal at the time. Therefore, if you are thinking of how to start farming in Nigeria, you must acquire the necessary farm implements needed depending on your area of interest and then take the next step.
Step 5. Execute your idea

Executing the idea is the most important step of how to start farming in Nigeria.

If you do everything in step 1 to step 4 above without taking this step then the idea is a dead one or a dream that never came true.

Remember that this stage is very important, and I consider it the most important of all the previous stages discussed above.

You must execute your plan to make it a reality. For fish farming business, you must design your pond, pump in treated water into it (water mixed with the right chemicals/drugs for your fingerlings), get the feed ready on site, carefully pour in your fingerlings, and start feeding them as advised by experts in step 2.

Finally, if you do not execute your idea, then the aim of how to start farming in Nigeria is defeated.
Step 6. Seek experts’ advice and supervision

If you can afford to do it, I will advise you always seek experts’ advice and supervision.

Also, it will not cost you anything to get an old woman or man in the locality who has had many years’ experiences in similar farming business to observe your project and offer expert advice on how to make it better.

Please do not wait until you start having issues before you start doing this as problem detected at early stages will be much easier to handle than when it has eaten deeply into your farming business.

Hence, this is why their advice and supervision are important. You must also understand that you are still new in such farming business and that explains why their advice is critical.

Therefore, if you are planning on how to start farming in Nigeria, you must consider seeking expert’s advice and supervision in order to succeed in your need business.
Conclusion
This piece on how to start farming in Nigeria is well researched and concise piece on tested and trusted steps you must take if you wish to go into farming business in Nigeria.

Farming business can either be capital intensive or cheap depending on how much you can afford to invest in it.

If you lack money to fund your farming business with, you must follow refer to step 3 and follow the ideas suggested. Let your ideas run wide, look beyond the ones mentioned if they cannot give you the solution that you need – try other possible sources.

Farming is a very lucrative business and sadly, Nigerian government has not done enough to discourage her youths whose interests are still in non-existent white collar jobs because government revenues are mainly generated through crude oil sales.

This trend has to change because, with high rate of crude oil drilling and theft in Nigeria, it is certain that we will wake up someday to realize that Nigeria is no longer a crude oil producing nation, so this explains why farming is key.

Farming business has made lots of youths millionaires in a short period of time, therefore, Nigerian government (especially those in Southern Nigeria) must encourage their youths to go into this business by giving juicy incentives to them, developing massive farm plantation and employing youths to work in them, and generally sensitizing the youths.

Make no mistakes about it; white-collar jobs are no longer available like they used to be in the past, so farming will be a major solver of Nigeria’s youth unemployment issue.

Last words, if you are about to finish your NYSC and you are thinking of getting a big job immediately after, you may just be chasing shadow.

Yes, it may just be a wishful thinking because many agile and well-qualified youths have been searching for good jobs for years.

Start now to re-strategize – yes, start thinking of how to start farming in Nigeria so that you are not caught up in the crossfire.

Good luck!!

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