Farming business can be a very arduous and at the same a very profitable lifetime engagement. And as so, there are undeniable factors affecting farming business in Nigeria where the business could be said to be financially buoyant up to the extent that parts of the nation’s economy actually depends on it through some of it exportation and importation policies.
One thing every household cannot do without is food. This is a basic need of man and If the essence of farming is to end hunger, then it can be termed profitable. This is because you can make money from farming by selling your farm produce to individuals or organizations who need various farm products.
Farming is all about the rearing of animals and planting of crops either for family consumption or for commercial or business purposes. Since the raw materials used in the production of different finished products are all generated through farming (some of these raw materials include cotton, timber, cocoa, wheat, coffee, palm oil, and others on a large scale), our focus here is to emphasize on farming as a business that is aimed at producing raw materials for personal, industrial, and commercial purposes.
And to better justify the position of agriculture in the country, farming business has largely attracted the attention of the Nigerian government. Following Nigeria’s recent economic recession, business emphasis has been shifted from the oil sector to other sectors with the aim of diversifying the economy. Evidence of this shift of emphasis is the Government’s increased efforts to make the agricultural sector more productive and competitive through various loans, grants and programmes.
Factors Affecting Farming Business in Nigeria.
Farming in Nigeria is one of the most profitable businesses to venture into, agriculture accounts for over 35% of Nigeria’s GDP but just as about 80% of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) fail in Nigeria in their first year, your farm can also fail if you go about it without proper knowledge of some of the factors affecting farming business in Nigeria:
1. Lack of Necessary Facilities
One of the factors affecting farming business in Nigeria is the lack of necessary facilities. The absence of fundamental facilities and inadequate systems have been a major stumbling block in the agriculture business in Nigeria. Poor infrastructure discourages potential local and foreign investment and leads to wastage of the farm products that are cultivated under this.
2. Inadequate Farm Management Skills
Another major one of the factors affecting farming business in Nigeria is the inadequacies in farm management skills which is one of the major problems that exist in Nigeria’s agriculture sector. To begin with, there is more to farming than just digging the soil and planting crops. Farmers need to know how to select the right seed variety to get optimum yield, the best time for planting, best on-farm practices to reduce crop loss and how to partner with the right off-takers to get the best price for their product.
3. Lack of Access to the Right Farm Tools
At this day and age, farmers in Nigeria still rely on crude tools for farming and storage and this can inadvertently affect productivity. For instance, lack of proper irrigation tools makes it difficult to farm during the dry season and lack of mechanical tools such as tractors to substitute manual labor hinders productivity due to fatigue. This also is some of the actors affecting farming business in Nigeria.
4. Poor National Economy and Capital Problem
It is quite sordid that 88% of Nigerian farmers are considered small family farmers. Some of this stems from the lack of funds to expand to large scale farming prevalent in the country. Despite their importance for the domestic economy and due to the sector’s productivity limitations, more than 72 percent of Nigeria’s smallholders live below the poverty line of USD 1.9 (691) a day.
One of the major factors limiting farmers from growing and making a reasonable living is lack of funds and it is one of the major factors affecting farming business in Nigeria. These funds are difficult to come by as some banks do not loan to them for various reasons. This leads to the farmers struggling to make a living, asking disinterested family members to take part in farming instead of hiring proper human labor, and affecting agricultural productivity overall. Lack of capital also prevents potential farmers from venturing into farming business.
5. Poor Information and Records
Farm records are kept carelessly if kept at all. Farmers do not have accurate tracking of farm activities and farm information. Information about the Nigerian farm market is not easily accessible and adequate information such as market prices are pertinent. This opens the door to adulteration of figures regarding farming in Nigeria. Agricultural development in Nigeria cannot be measured if there is disorganization of the farm records for research purposes. This makes it hard to narrow down certain farming issues and proffer solutions.
