You don’t have to acquire a land and start cultivating to profit from the agriculture industry. In fact, people that make 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 for anyone with enough interest.
The agric industry has huge lucrative business and career opportunities. If you have an interest in agriculture or are open to learning about business ideas in agriculture, this video is for you. I’m going to share with you 10 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. Before we get to it, I’ll like to invite you to subscribe to After School TV and click the notification bell so that you don’t miss more insightful videos like this.
1. Agriculture Consulting
Majority of farmers in developing regions lack the knowledge to maximize their farm yield. But with the right expert knowledge, they 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 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 and tools to increase yields and produce healthier products. Consultants are in demand, both as city and state workers, private industry hires, and independent contractors.
2. Farm Produce processing and packaging
From rice to cassava to plantain, food processing is an important and lucrative part of the value chain in the agriculture industry. If you take a walk 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. Consumers 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 presents huge opportunities for entrepreneurs to benefit from this niche of the agric sector.
3. Farm produce marketing
There is still a wide gap between farmers in developing regions and the market. A lot of farmers struggle to find buyers that will be willing to pay reasonably to compensate for their effort. Whereas some farmers lose a substantial part of their produce before it gets to the market due to prolonged storage and inadequate access to the market.
In addition to that, there has been an increase in agriculture 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 the middleman mediating between farmers, buyers, and off-takers.
Internet marketing technology has made facilitating the marketing process a lot simpler. There is the option of building eCommerce service to help farmers list their products for buyers to find them. You can also reach out to companies that need raw materials from the farm like restaurants, hotels, supermarkets, processing and manufacturing companies. You literally create a market for those who don’t have access.
4. Farm transportation
Transportation can present major challenges for small farmers looking to move products to market. Limited access to transportation can affect how a farmer moves products into the supply chain. With a strong business model, providing access to transportation for farmers can prove to be a profitable venture. Entrepreneurs can provide the materials for transport, including trucks, trailers, and other equipment that are designed for livestock and produce.
5. Agri-tourism
In recent years, more people in urban areas are interested in finding out more about where their food comes from and how it’s produced. People have seen the dining side of the farm-to-table, now they want to see the farm. The recent emergence of agritourism 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 agritourism consultants has also cropped up to help guide farmers who may not have experience in customer relations, liability, marketing, and events coordination. Innovative businesses can also partner with farmers to organize tourism events at their farms.
6. Technology solutions for farmers
There is a growing number of mobile applications that help farmers be more effective and efficient with their farming process. These applications perform functions for weather forecasting, crop and soil testing, training, data on disease management, security surveillance, and much other information that help 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 services. There are apps that help farmers access a larger market to sell their products. There is also the need for drone services for different purposes. These are just some of the many ways entrepreneurs are using technology applications to improve the agriculture industry.
7. Equipment leasing – the Uber model
Uber is one of the most valuable modern-day companies with a global presence. Due to its unprecedented success, its business model has replicated in different industries all over the world. Uber’s business model of renting cabs on demand has inspired countless businesses around the world including in agriculture. There are services making it easy for farmers to rent and share farming equipment, saving money and time.
Small holder farmers contribute 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.
8. Agribusiness training
As people are discovering the opportunities of creating wealth from the agriculture industry, they 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 impart 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 generation of farmers.
9. Exportation of agric products
You can start a farm product exportation business if you have the international contact. You then have to work with a number of 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.
10. Invest in agriculture
If you don’t want to have 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 crowdfunding platforms out there offering up to 15 percent return on investment in 6 months. Make sure to do a proper search 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’ll have a source of passive income while keeping your job or business.
Overall, the agriculture industry has a wide value chain; and its enormous opportunities are open to anyone who has an interest. You just need to identify which part of the value chain best suits you and start exploring the opportunities.
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