What does it take to become an agripreneur in africa?
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1,111,111 TRP = 11,111 USD
1,111,111 TRP = 11,111 USD
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What does it take to become an agripreneur in africa?
REQUIREMENTS FOR SUCCESS IN AGRIBUSINESS
1. Knowledge
Successful farmers are constantly researching. They are always looking for new information to improve their farming methods and practices. By doing this, it will help them increase productivity on their farm and boost sales. Knowledge is power and the continuous pursuit of this will ensure that you are always ahead with modern farming.
2. Passion
This should actually have been the first point on this list. You need to have a passion for farming in order to succeed. You have to love your job. Show me a productive farm in Kenya and I will show you a passionate owner running the farm. Apparently this point applies to every business owner in Kenya. If you are planning to engage in agriculture it is highly important that you really love what you are doing because this will help you cope in times of failure. You will have a reason to get up every time you fall. This will keep you working.
3. Problem Solving Abilities
When you are running a farm you will soon realize that there are some set-backs that require creative thinking. You have to come up with new ways to solve problems to make your farm run smoothly and more productive. There are certain methods that are not laid out on instruction manuals, so the farmer has to come up with his/her own innovative ideas.
4. Marketing
How am I going to sell my crops after harvest? This question worries many new farmers but not the successful farmer. To succeed in farming you have to know all the different ways of marketing products. With the new technologies in today‘s generation (Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, etc) you cannot miss. You have to use everything out there to ensure that your products get maximum exposure.
5. Perseverance
This requires the strongest individuals. Farming can sometimes bring loses if the weather does not go your way. Though one can involve Insurance companies but this can proove expensive especially for starters who are not financially stable, here risk-taking applies.
Farming remains one of the means for food security and sustenance for many rural families, with the agriculture sector continuing to be the backbone of the continent.
However, for entrepreneurs hoping to making the transition from subsistence to running a profitable commercial enterprise there are many challenges that can make many entrepreneurs throw in the towel before they even start.
But what should ambitious small scale farmers look out for if they want to break into farming on a commercial scale? To find out, we speak to Aggrey Mahanjana, Managing Director of the Red Meat Producers Organisation Group (NEPRO).
“There are more bad farmers in South Africa than bad farms”
Expert management tips
According to Mahanjana, there is currently a huge wave and excitement from BEE- practitioners, politicians and unemployed youth to start agricultural enterprises.
“Many of these people fail in farming due to lack of understanding that starting an agri-business venture, especially primary agriculture, is too risky,” ha says. “Farming is a lifestyle. And if it is not in you, you won’t make it as a farmer.”
Mahanjana is also the secretary-general of the organisation that facilitates the development of African farmers, the African Farmers Association of South Africa (AFASA). He says that just like a sports match, bad players are not there necessarily because the sport is bad.
“There are more bad farmers in South Africa than bad farms,” he says.
“Your farm is as good as your management”
Well, I cannot speak from other African countries but in southern Africa you really need to be humble as agriculture is, mistakenly, seen as the poor only way to live, therefore people are often sceptical with starters. I also believe being well connected as in having a good network, does wonders
Hello Evans,
There are three steps that I want to share with you to become a successful agri preneur in Africa
1. Self-Assessment
The first step is to do an assessment of yourself, preferably with the help of an experienced farmer. A few questions will guide you on this:
Experience-Have you ever farmed before Y/N?? If Yes what did you farm, where did you farm, what acreage did you farm and what was your experience?
Interest-What are you interested in farming? What do you know about it?
Timeline-What would you like to know about this type of farming before you can start? How soon do you plan to start farming after training?
Once you have done a guided self-assessment, being clear on you scope of experience, area of interest and timelines, and you want to pursue farming as a career, the next step is to invest in educating yourself to better understand farming operations as a whole. Running a farm goes beyond growing processes, it also involves understanding the financial implications and market dynamics.
Talk to other farmers, attend workshops, seminars and trade shows. Seek out mentorship programs or work as an employee on a farm to gain practical experience.
2. Getting Land
Land could be inherited, bought or leased, whichever works for an individual. However something worth noting is knowing the actual size of your land.
We often get questions about the acreage of parcels of land; most people do not know how to calculate acreage for themselves. Knowing acreage is very important to a farmer as it lets him/her know whether he is getting optimal yields from his crop and also enables him/her to enter lease agreements without the risk of being duped.
3. Soil Amendment
Soil amendment plays an important role in crop production and nutrient management, for both crop growing and livestock farming. On farms that use commercial fertilizer as the main nutrient source, it is the best way to plan for profitable fertilizer applications.
It’s a three-step process: the collection of a representative sample from each field or section, proper analysis of that sample to determine the levels of available nutrients, and use of the results to determine optimum fertilizer rates. These results usually indicate what could be grown on the soil as it is, and what is to be added in case a farmer has specific preferences.
Keeping records is an integral part of the soil fertility management process; they will help determine if soil fertility levels are increasing, decreasing or being maintained over time. Investing in soil analysis to determine fertility will help any farmer in reducing costs of inputs during the farming process as he applies only what is needed, it also allows them to maximize on yields and build soil health to improve crop resistance to pests and diseases.
These are the three steps that will help you avoid losses and increase yields as an agripreneur in Africa.
Cheers!