AGRICULTURAL VALUE CHAIN: FERTILE GROUND FOR YOUTH ENTERPRENEURS

Being a Lecture Delivered at the International Association of Research Scholars and Fellows (IARSAF) Annual

Symposium

On 23rd March, 2015

By Mrs. Yemisi Iranloye

The Facts: Rate of Unemployment in NigeriaFigures in 000’000

Source: National Bureau of Statistics, 2012

2008 2009 2011 2012

Labour Force 61.19 63.14 65.17 67.25

Employed 52.07 50.7 51.22 51.18

Unemployed 9.12 12.44 13.95 16.07

Irony: Nigeria expends between ₦1.5trillion- ₦ 2.3tillion annually on food importation in the midst of this glaring unemployment rate.

Agriculture is once seen as outdated, unprofitable, hard work and laborious; it is now a dynamic sector, offering a multitude of opportunities for entrepreneurship along the entire agribusiness value chain.

FARMING IS NOT JUST FOR FOOD SECURITY BUT FOR LIVELIHOOD- BUISNESS NOT HOBBY

KEY IDEAS OF CASE MODEL Market First: Produce what you have already sold, not the other way round; start from the market and work backward.

It does not only capture one actor (producers) but all the actors within the cluster hence Agricultural Systems.

Coordination and Competition: Without the strong ability of ‘coordinating together’ and competing with others within and outside the clusters’ small scale agribusiness soon lose out and get out of business. Why?

Farming is real business but most small scale farmers don’t work like business people- why they don’t work hard to accurately capture all their ‘costs’ before and after producing

PSALTRY ROLE TO FARMERS

• Provide agricultural production support services in Nigeria

• Empower and integrate smallholder farmers through information dissemination and capacity building

• Train producer groups in both technical and managerial skills essential for profitable production

DISTRIBUTION OF IMPROVED VARIETIES OF CASSAVA STEMS AND FERTILIZER TO PSALTRY OUTGROWERS TO ACHIEVE OPTIMUM

STARCH YIELD.

PSALTRY MODEL PROMOTING YOUNG ENTERPRENEURSInput Supply: Psaltry buy inputs in bulk at lower prices, and then supply them to the Out-growers.

REGULAR FARM MEETINGS AND INSPECTIONS INCLUDING FARMERS, BANKS AND EXTENSION OFFICERS

PSALTRY MODEL IN PROMOTING YOUNG ENTERPRENEURS

Financial Services: Access to cash loans and input credit is a very important service provided by the Out-grower Scheme with Guarantee from Psaltry.

APPLICATION OF ORGANIC FERTILIZER AND MECHANIZED PLANTING METHOD WAS EMPLOYED.

Loading On the Farm And Scaling On Psaltry Weigh Bridge

Cassava Inspection And Offloading Ground

FACTORY USING 80-100 TONS OF CASSAVA A DAY

Washing of cassava Raspering of cassava

Laboratory, Quality Assurance And Warehousing

WAY-FORWARD FOR YOUTH ENTREPRENEURS IN AGRI-BUSINESS

Information Sharing

CONCLUSION

‘We knew to diversify the economy and we have, because of the food production and the fact that we have produced over 21 million metric tonnes of additional food that has created the buffer that we see today’ - Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina (Minister of Agriculture)

We believe Agriculture is the 21st century Oil boom and until this is achieved, we will not tire out.