Today’s Agri-business

The agricultural industry has huge lucrative business and career opportunities within the value chain, if you have an interest in agriculture or are open to learning about business ideas in agriculture, you don’t need to own a farm of any kind be it animal husbandry or crop production before making money from the agricultural business. In fact, people that make the most profit from agribusiness are not necessarily owners of farms.

Agribusiness has taken a dramatic turn to a better direction and millionaires are currently being made every year through it in Nigeria and there is certainly no end to the prospects of creating more wealth through agribusiness in the coming years.

According to Dr Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank (AfDB) “The size of food and agriculture in Africa will rise to $1 trillion by 2030. The population of Africa, now at 1.2 billion, will double to 2.5 billion by 2050. They all must eat. And only through food and agribusiness can this be achieved,” If you are thinking of how to make money in agribusiness, Agri e-commerce (e-marketing) is an option.

Agri e-commerce comprises marketing of food grain, commercial crops, plantation crops, horticultural produce and semi-processed products through the internet.

The internet has changed the world. In line with other sectors, retail businesses have taken up e-marketing, or internet marketing, expanding outreach to customers beyond their conventional shopping districts. A global market is now accessible to any business with a Web site. Agroindustry is no exception.

However, because agricultural products are perishable, numerous considerations for effective marketing are required. Proper handling and packaging, timely delivery, storage conditions, and knowledge of internet operations and marketing are crucial. E-Agro marketers in Nigeria tend to be small in scale, and exposure to information and communication technology (ICT) and education may be limited.

The promotion of agro products-commerce in the country necessitates the active involvement of the public and/or private sector to develop infrastructure and provide information and ICT training, realizing the importance of a strategic approach to build capacity and improve African’s e-commerce development, increase productivity and value, Nomfro Technologies offers e-commerce entrepreneurship empowerment programs for Nigerians innovative startups in agro product e-commerce. This as a result will create jobs, promote Agricultural development/ productivity, reduce agro produce wastage and build a robust platform for agro produce trading.

According to Mr Adams John Smart, executive director of Nomfro Technologies’ Entrepreneurship Empowerment Project (NTEEP-2022), this project will provide over 500 startup entrepreneurs across Africa with $500 worth of credit each. The credit will be used to cover costs of business websites or e-commerce website development and mentorship program for participants.

He concluded by saying that, African startups will have access to free business websites or e-commerce websites and digital marketing strategies that make SMEs more robust online. So, if you want to go into the agro product, e-commerce or marketing, apply now for free he said through the link https://nteep.nomfro.com.

In recent years, a number of Agri e-commerce services have been launched across developing countries. These services provide farmers with new ways of selling their products and reaching new buyers. There is limited research on the proportion of Agri sales through these online services, relative to traditional distribution channels.

However, insights on the activities of these services, including the number of buyers and sellers and transaction values and volumes, indicate strong growth and potential for the services to scale in the future.

In April 2019, Nigerian agri-tech startup Farmcrowdy launched an agricultural commodities marketplace. This builds on the online platform it created in 2016, which connects individual investors to farmers through sponsorship packages that fund higher yields for a share of the returns. Farmcrowdy10 has empowered more than 12,000 farmers across 14 states. It is Agribusiness to venture.

The following are requirements to be into Agri e-commerce

You are required to register a company name with CAC as a limited liability company or business name which make you a cooperate entity and as well stand you out from others.

A functional website – without a website, there’s no agri e-commerce because you will be dealing with both local and international clients. All over the world, agric products are in hot demand.

A traceable contact addresses

You have to also register with the farmers association. Contact farmers in your area and speak to them about selling their produce. Attend local farmers’ markets in order to make contacts. Ask farmers for lists of products they grow, and schedules for the availability of different varieties.

You must be trained in e-commerce.

A warehouse no matter how small.

A vehicle even if it’s on lease or synergy.

Currently, 55% of the world’s population live in urban areas, rising to 68% by 2050, underpinned by rapid urbanisation in Africa and Asia. A busier lifestyle in urban areas could be a catalyst for consumers shifting to Agri e-commerce. An increase in urbanisation has the potential to increase the number of customers for e-commerce services. It can potentially improve the addressing system and reduce the cost of last-mile delivery, which is a key barrier for Agri e-commerce services sold directly to consumers.

Finally, the expansion of a social group with a higher amount of disposable income leads to changing food consumption and lifestyle patterns, which agri e-commerce can meet through direct-to-consumer services. For instance, the middle class drives interest in ethically sourced local produce, as well as fresh and organic food.