It sure feel good to be back on hive after a week of busy schedule kept me away. Today's blog is about numerous opportunities for investors and entrepreneurs alike in Nigeria's food industry.
Without a shadow of doubt, Nigeria is a country that is blessed in a number of ways. In terms of mineral resources such as gold, crude oil, coal, bitumen, Iron ore to name a few, Nigeria is richly endowed.
The climate, water and soil of Nigeria is another great blessing to the nation. It has prompted some state to adopt mottos such as food basket of the nation, the land of the living spring, sunshine state, all expressing the gift of nature to the country.
From the north to the south, everywhere you look you are bound to find resources that can make the country a pride among the community of nations.
For long, these resources, particularly the agricultural produces have been allowed to lie fallow or wasted due to negligence, lack of innovation and perhaps undue to concentration on crude oil.
In northern Nigeria, numerous food crops such as tomatoes, onions, peppers, to name a few, are produced in excess every farming season and it is a sad thing to note that due to lack of technological innovations among other factors, the excess foodstuffs are allowed to rot.
It is an eyesore indeed to see the street littered with rotten foodstuff, the stench of which is not only a nuisance to people but constitute environmental hazard to them.
The time and efforts of the farmers have been wasted. There is a drain in the profit that could have accrued to businessmen and women who trade in these stuffs as well as taxes that could have reached the government purse .
During farming season, there is a crash in the prices of these farm crops, particularly onions and tomatoes as the law of demand and supply set in.
It is good for me to note here that these are common foodstuffs that are consumed almost on a daily basis by the teeming population of Nigerian. It will be hard to find a household that does not consume these foodstuffs in Nigeria.
The story is the same for common farm produce such as palm oil, bananas, citrus fruits and so on, from southern part of Nigeria.
Local respond to the challenge of food wastage
To solve the problem of food wastage, Nigerians have adopted various inadequate measures such as treating food with chemicals to preserve them for a longer period in order to sell them outside their farming seasons when they are usually scare and costly.
Unfortunately, apart from the fact that chemical treatment of food is inadequate and may be harmful if not done properly (which is usually the case because a good number of the farming population in Nigeria are not well educated nor trained), the method is not applicable to all foodstuffs.
Another common methods that is employed by Nigerian is hoarding of food such as palm oil for as long as it can stay without spoilage during its season and then selling when it is out of season. Obviously, this is not the best recipe for the problem.
Here are the opportunities for Investors and entrepreneurs
To make up for inadequate food supply outside the farming seasons , Nigerians import processed foodstuff such as tomatoes. This buttress the fact that these foodstuffs are in common demand by the populace.
Investors and entrepreneurs can cash in on this by developing methods to extend the shelf life of common foodstuffs or better still process these foodstuffs locally in Nigeria in order to sell them anytime of the year, particularly outside the farming seasons of these crops.
Onions, tomatoes, palm oil among many other foodstuffs should be the prime targets of such innovative move.
This sort of thing is already being adopted by some beverage industries in Nigeria. Five Alive is an example of such innovative product. It consists of five Nigerian fruits that has been processed into liquid form with extended shelf life. There is still room for other products even along this line because demand for similar products is still very high.
Soilless farming
Soilless farming is another way of approaching the problem of fluctuation in the price of foodstuffs with farming seasons.
Soilless farming is farming without the use of soil. It is a technological method that can salvage the damaging effect of climate change on soil fertility and it can supplement food production by conventional methods whether in or out of the farming seasons.
There are different type of soilless farming. They are broadly classified as hydroponics, aeroponics and aquaponics. I explain these term briefly:
Hydroponics farming: This is farming using an inert medium such as rock. The plants are fed appropriate mix of both primary and secondary nutrients.
Aeroponics farming: This farming method involves the suspension of the root of plants in misted environment.
Aquaponics farming: This method combine both aquaculture and hydroponic farming. It solve the problem of the discharge of nutrient rich aquaculture waste and the need to use such nutrient laden waste as fertilizer for crops.
In conclusion
The use of modern technology for solving the problem of food inadequacy in Nigeria is still in its nascent state and investors and entrepreneurs are sure to reap a bountiful harvest from wise and educated investment made in the sector.
Reference
Soilless farming for fostering sustainable food production