THE CONCEPT OF INVESTMENT IN AGRICULTURE
Agriculture is essential to all Nations; there is no healthy life without adequate and healthy food, making it of high importance to ensure that there is an abundant flow of money in the agricultural sector in order to increase the production of farm produce which will give room to a more comfortable and ideal economy, that is where the investment in agriculture comes in.
THE REQUIRED INVESTMENT IN AGRICULTURE
While money is a super important asset to invest in any business or project, there’s an equal need for the investment of time, efforts and skills for a better worthwhile output.
Agriculture is said to be ‘the center of the Nigerian economy, providing the main source of livelihood for the majority of Nigerians.
WHAT NIGERIA INVESTMENT IN AGRICULTURE MEANS
[1] Investing in agriculture in Nigeria hence means investing (indirectly) in the Nigerian economy, giving more chances for an investor to gain a profitable profit.
‘Despite the contribution to the economy, Nigeria’s agricultural sector faces many challenges which impact its productivity.
[2] Ranging from lack of adequate knowledge to inadequate funds.
In order for the agricultural sector to be more productive, numerous sacrifices are called for. The government as well as the citizens need to work hand in hand to help uplift the value of agriculture to meet or even surpass its well-known status and importance to the Nigerian republic.
It is a well-known fact that there is no Nigeria without agriculture; the ‘Green’ colour on the Nigerian flag which stands for ‘the fertility of the soil (of the said country) backed the fact up’. Hence, agriculture is expected to have as much labour force available as possible for the fertile soil to be utilized to its maximum capacity which will for sure have a positive impact on its (agriculture) productivity.
But when no one is willing to invest any of the available assets they have, there would be less productivity in agriculture, leading to inadequate food, clothing and livestock, and on a higher scale, a high level of unemployment.
In contradiction to the general knowledge of agriculture that almost everyone has that Agriculture is the cultivation of crops and rearing of animals, there is more to agriculture than that.
While agriculture is indeed the cultivation of crops and rearing of animals, it is also the main source of clothing; most of the materials used for making fabrics and other materials are sourced from agricultural produce, the most relatively known material being cotton.
INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES IN AGRICULTURE
Investment in Agriculture is a broad field, that accommodates a lot of opportunities for many people to be one way or the other into different (somehow inter-relating) businesses like the beverage business, poultry business, fabric business and the likes.
Nothing comes free of charge, including the opportunity to be into some of the businesses above as well as other aspects of investment in Agriculture; one needs to sacrifice (invest) one thing or the order, directly or indirectly in order to be shadowed with such chances.
HOW MUCH YOU CAN INVEST IN AGRICULTURE
To carryout investment in agriculture, one does not need to invest a huge amount of money, as money is not the only asset that is needed for more productive and promising agriculture in Nigeria.
In a more understandable language, there are other assets that one can invest in agriculture that will indeed give room to a more advanced production which are also parts of the investment in Agriculture.
Agriculture in Nigeria without a doubt needs as much investment it could get as possible. Starting from the most widely used asset of investment (money) to other assets like labor, time, efforts etc.
Yes, when one gives his money to a company so they can release their products to the mass, the person is looked upon as an investor because that’s what he did, he (openly) invested his fortune (money in this case) in the company. Or when one purchases a certain stock from a company, the person will still be looked at as an investor since that’s what he is (indirectly) doing, investing in the company. Openly investing in that agro-based industries and/or purchasing stocks is a good way to invest one’s fortune in.
But, helping that poor farmer in one’s neighborhood to get some modernized machines for farming instead of using crude equipment is also an investment.
Of course, this is not some charity work that you will use tons of hundreds of thousands of money to gain nothing profitable from it. After all, the basis of investments is to generate more and not to lose the same goes with investment in Agriculture.
So how about putting it this way, let’s say you purchased a machine worth ₦750,000 for this very farmer and you give it to him. In this case, you become that empathetic person who seriously couldn’t help losing his money to help others (and this is quite not that bad), but it is in humans to take anything that is free of charge for granted and the same may apply to this farmer.
So, in order to have a win-win opportunity with the farmer, an agreement should come in, like yes you want to help invest in this farmer because you see his potential but you can’t afford to make the mistake of losing some huge money. You will then need to create a way that you get to help (invest in) this farmer at the same time as you gain something too.
Investment in Agriculture is diverse, you can be this unemployed graduate who has an interest in a certain sector of agriculture but have no means of starting one on your own but you know this person who has the means but not the time to plan and manage it. Try to invest then, invest your time and effort. Sketch the plan out, make the entire blueprint of your idea and request for an investment collaboration with that person; you invest your time and effort while he invests his money.
Investment in Agriculture is a very wise initiative because Agriculture is wide, it has different sub-sectors: crops, fishery, poultry and a lot more, take one and invest in it, not necessarily with money. Do you have time? Then invest your time. Or do you have the means but not the time? Then invest in someone’s time.
CONCLUSION
There are various ways that one can carryout investment in agriculture, be it monetary investment or time investment, they all payback. Invest in agriculture to gain more because there is no field in agriculture that doesn’t sell especially now; when food products are scarce.
