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You do not have to acquire land and start cultivating to profit from the agriculture industry. In fact, people that made the most profit from agriculture are not necessarily farm owners. In other words, there are many opportunities to make a lot of money in the agric industry foe anyone with enough interest.
The agric industry has huge lucrative business and career opportunities. If you have an interest in agriculture or you are open to learn about business ideas in agriculture, this article is for you.
I am going to share with you the lucrative agriculture business ideas that do not require owning a farm or doing the farming. Hopefully, at least one of these ideas will interest you.
Agriculture Consulting
Majority of farmers in developing regions like Nigeria lack the knowledge to maximize the farm yield. But with the expect knowledge, thy can produce more from the same investment and space.
Agriculture consulting provides the research backbone of the agricultural industry. As an agric consultant, you will be involved in advising and training farmers on farming best practices, you will advise on the use of high yield seedlings or fingerlings, soil management, and other modern farming techniques. And also help to supplement the traditional knowledge of farmers with new technologies ad tools to increase yields and produces healthier products.
Consultants are in demand, both as city and state workers, private industry hires and dependent contractors.
Farm Produce Processing and Packaging
From rice to cassava to plantains, food processing is an important and lucrative part of value chain in the agriculture industry. If you take a look into any grocery store or supermarket, you will easily find collections of processed and well packaged farm produce. With the expansion of the middle class and urbanization, there is an increasing demand for processed branded and packaged food. Consumer are also becoming more health conscious, adding to the need for nutritious pre-packaged food.
The food processing and packaging market in Nigeria, for example, is estimated at about $545m. This present huge opportunities for entrepreneurs to benefit from this niche of the agric sector.
Farm Produce Marketing
There is still a wide gap between farmers in developing regions and the market. A lot of farmers struggle to find a buyer that will be willing to pay reasonably to compensate for their effort. Whereas some farmers lose some substantial parts of their produce before it get to the market due to prolonged storage and inadequate access to the market.
In addition to that, there ha been an increase in agricultural activities in recent times likely due to the ongoing sensitization on the opportunities in the sector. These new farmers will need to sell their farm produce. This is where you come in as a middleman mediating between farmers, buyers and off takers.
Internet marketing technology has made facilitating the marketing process a lot simple. There is the option of building e-commerce services to help farmers list their products for buyers to find them. You can also reach out to companies that need new materials from the farm like restaurants, hotels, supermarkets, processing and manufacturing companies, you are literally creating a market for those who don’t have the access.
Farm Transportation
Transportation can present major challenges for small farmers looking to move products to the market. Limited access to transportation can affect a farmer moves products into the supply chain. With a strong business model, providing access to transportation for farmers can prove to be profitable venture.
Entrepreneurs cam provide the materials for transport, including trucks, trailers and other equipment that are designed for livestock and produces.
Agri-Tourism
In recent years, more people in urban areas are interesting in finding out more about where food comes from and it’s produced. People have seen the dining side of farm-to-table now they want to see the farm. The recent emergence of agri-tourism as an industry is showing a lot of promise for entrepreneurs.
Traditionally, farm tourism would be largely relegated to the individual farmer, who will host small tours of their operations for interested visitors. An industry of agri-tourism consultants have also crapped up to help guide farmers who may not have experience of customer relations, liability, marketing, and events coordination. Innovative business can also partner with farmers to organize tourism events at their farms.
Technology Solutions for Farmers
There are growing number of mobile applications to help farmers to be more effective and efficient with their farming process. These applications provide function for weather forecasting, crop and soil testing, training, data on diseases management, security surveillance and many other information that can improve planting, cultivating and harvesting.
There are also apps that expose farmers to financial services such as loans, payments, insurance and general banking and accounting service. There are apps that help farmers access a larger markets to sell their products.
There also the needs for drone services for different purposes. These are just some of the many ways entrepreneurs are using technology applications to improve the agriculture industry.
Equipment Leasing – The Uber Model
Uber is one of the modern day companies with a global presence. Due to its unprecedented success, their business model has replicated in different industries all over the world.
Uber’s business model of ranting cabs on demand has inspire countless businesses around the world including in agriculture. There are services making it easy for farmers to rent their farming equipment, saving money and times.
Small holder farmers contribute to the majority of agricultural produce from Africa. These small holder farmers will benefit most from the uber model of farming, since it is more expensive to own farming equipment and machinery than to lease them. The opportunities here include designing and building applications that bring farmers and equipment owners under one platform, or buying and leasing these equipment.
Agribusiness Training
As people are discovering the opportunities of creating wealth from the agriculture industry, the need training to learn the rudiments and the business of farming. There are lucrative opportunities in teaching people how to farm different livestock and crops, and the business of agriculture. If you are confident in your skill, you can share your knowledge with young farmers who will pay for your classes. You can start an online farming class as well as farm visitation sessions. This is a good option for older, experienced farmers who are looking for retirement option.
Also, as a young farmer, if you are skilled and you have the ability to impact knowledge, you can also start training people about farming. This can be very profitable for people who don’t just want to work on the field, but have the passion to share their knowledge with the next generaiton of farmers.
Exportation of Agric Products
You can start a farm product exportation business if you have the international contact. You then have to work with number local farmers to take off their harvest and export to your international buyers. If you understand the exportation procedures in your country and have an innovative business model, there is a lot of money for you to make exporting farm products.
Invest in Agriculture
if you don’t want to have a direct contact with the upstream and downstream of the agric industry but have idle money, you can invest your money and have other people do the job. There are many agric crowd funding platforms out there offering up to 15 percent return on investment in 6 months. Make sure to do proper research and due diligence before giving anyone your money. If you invest with the right people, you can easily have your money work for you. You will have a source of passive income while keeping your job or business.
Overall, the agric industry has a wide value chain; and its enormous opportunities are open to anyone who has interest. You just need to identify which part of the value chain that is best suits you and start exploring the opportunities.
