Smallholder farmers need agribusiness skills to succeed–Nnaemego

NaijaAgroNet:

 

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO)/Founder, Fresh Young Brain Development Initiative, Barr.Nkiruka Nnaemego, has said rural women and smallholder farmers need agribusiness skills and transformative leadership to succeed in the sector, NaijaAgroNet reports.

Nnaemego who was speaking at the Rural Women Farmers Forum (RWFF) General Assembly held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, said leadership is a process of directing and influencing another individual or group of individuals to accomplish a goal;an art and ability of inspiring, guiding, and directing people so that they ardently desire to do what the leader wishes.

NaijaAgroNet also reports that the training was organised to help women and smallholder farmers have access to additional skills and knowledge to enable them to move from a 'farm' to a'firm (business)’.

Nnaemego enumerated ways to build good customer relation in agribusiness to include keeping customers details (names, phone numbers and other relevant information), which would help for easy contact of clients especially when “you’ve not seen them for a while.”

Listening, she said, is just as important as telling, stressing the importance of talking with your clients often that apart from business purpose, the farmer should build informal relationship by calling them often to show them “you care.”

NaijaAgroNet also reports that Nnaemego encouraged farmers to set and manage realistic expectations,adding that as much as customers want their problems to be fixed, farmers should try as much as possible not to disappoint them.

“It is better to always be truthful and realistic than disappointing them,” she cautioned, pointing out that reward is a very simple form of saying 'thank you.' This could be verbally or in action through discounts or free products.

On customer segmentation, she said, the farmer could group customers according to their common needs, common behaviours or other  afford them to answer the question:Are they willing to pay for your product or service?Who are they?  Are they old, young, and from where, rural or urban?

Customer relationship, she told the women farmers, is a way an agropreneur communicates and deals with existing and future customers in other to retain and gain more client, solidify relation with existing ones and loyalty which increases profitability.

Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE

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Africa can be world’s breadbasket

 NaijaAgroNet:

Paul Kagame, president, Republic of Rwanda and K Y Amoako, founder, African Center for Economic Transformation, a Ghana-based think tank have concurred that Africa can and should be the world’s breadbasket, NaijaAgroNet reports.

The two leaders took this stand in their contribution to Project Syndicate, an organisation that provides readers with original, engaging, and thought-provoking commentaries by global leaders and thinkers. By offering incisive perspectives from those who are shaping the world’s economics, politics, science, and culture, creating an unrivaled global venue for informed public debate.

They argued that to realise this vision – and to do it in an environmentally sustainable way – its agricultural sector must undergo a genuine transformation that entails higher capital investment, significant crop diversification, and improved linkages to burgeoning urban consumer markets.

Africa, NaijaAgroNet gathered, must start manufacturing more value-added food products for both internal consumption and export, especially to countries like India and China, where demand is growing.

From Europe and North America to East Asia and Latin America, agricultural advances have proved to be key precursors of industrial development and gains in living standards.  Africa has the added benefit of technologies that other regions lacked at this stage of their agricultural development, from cost-competitive off-grid solar power to mechanisms for mapping soil characteristics, regulating water use, and ensuring farmers’ access to accurate price information.

And innovation is already happening. Rwanda, for example, is working to link agriculture support with broader services like electricity and education. And the country’s farming communities are pioneering participatory decision-making structures for agricultural planning and conflict-resolution mechanisms to settle disputes among growers, NaijaAgroNet  learnt.

To bolster agricultural innovation and modernisation, governments must ensure that farmers have secure titles to their land, and thus an incentive to make the needed investments. The challenge lies in the fact that, in many parts of Africa, land is communally owned, with almost everyone in a village having traditional rights to some farming land – a system that has helped to prevent landlessness and destitution in rural areas.

Cyriacus Nnaji/ED,OPs

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 Pix: Paul Kagame and K Y Amoako,

Chinese farmer empowers Nigerian youths

 NaijaAgroNet

 

The Founder of Seven Star Farms Nigeria Ltd, Eric Ni Meng Xiao, a Chinese farmer, has empowered hundreds of young Nigerians through job creation, NaijaAgroNet reports

Seven Star which is located inAgbara-Lusada Road in Ogun State covers about 30 hectares where both the young and old are assisted by a group of Chinese farmers. The farm is reputed for producing a range of fresh vegetables, eggplant, pepper and fruits, NaijaAgroNet learnt.

"I came to Nigeria in 2003 to do shoe business, I was importing shoes from China, until the Nigerian government placed a ban on it, but we have bought this land to set up a factory. I was a farmer in China, but came to Nigeria to do business, so when the government restriction came, I thought it wise to do what I know how to do best and that is farming," he said.

He went further to say,"I am doing this to help reduced unemployment. We also works for Nigeria and foreigners, and this country (Nigeria) is also like my country (China), as long we are here together, we can help each other," he added.

Yusuf Garuba, a secondary school student who was seen busy at the farm cultivating, NaijaAgroNet gathered, said he took up the job because he did not stay home and do nothing. "The reason am working here is just for me not stay home and do nothing, so I came here to keep myself busy," he added.

Another worker who gave his name as Obinna Johnson expressed satisfaction that the Chinese farmers gave him the opportunity to work and learn as well.

Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE with additional report from Xinhua agency
 
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‘We’ve done lots of work on women to know their duties’

 NaijaAgroNet

 

 Apostle Henry  Iwuchukwu, Founder/Caretaker,Ark of Jesus Covenant Church International (aka Jesus is the Answer) has revealed that his church has transformed the women in the  ministry to be able to carry out their duties at home as wives, NaijaAgroNet  reports.

He made this known to NaijaAgroNe tduring the One Year Anniversary cum Mothers’ day of Women of Ark of Jesus Covenant Church in Lagos, stressing that it’s not just coming out to shine in public but also to know their duties as women and also wives.

“Today they can testify to the goodness of God that the virtuous woman as theme of the one year anniversary is most appropriate.,” Iwuchukwu said, pointed out that every woman has a responsibility which must start from the home, promising that in the next edition he will nominate a woman among themselves to speak to them and not from outside as was witnessed this year.

Pastor Mrs. Vivian Anyiam, the Women leader, had earlier confided in NaijaAgroNet that she has made sure that the women respect their husbands, take care of their children and homes. She also stated that between January and middle of April there has been fifteen naming ceremonies in the church, that the Lord is actually using the man of God to do a lot of miracle in the church.

She also said they teach them humility, even as she is building a standard in them, to take care of the less privilege, be obedient and humble themselves before God.

Equally speaking with NaijaAgroNet, the guest pastor, Pastor Mrs.Evangelist Favour Igbokwe outlined the characteristics of a virtuous woman to include trustworthiness, positive influence,  being a planner, hardworking, investing for the home, she helps her husband to become successful.

She stressed that a woman should not change overnight because the husband has noting doing again. She also confided in NaijaAgroNet that one can become rich while doing the work of God but must first of all have passion for the kingdom. She said that in a sinful and immoral society, to become a virtuous woman the church should regularly organize programmes such as witnessed today and that men and women of God should dwell on the truth and not to be afraid that raw truth would scare members away

Pastor Mrs. Iwuchukwu also spoke to NaijaAgroNet on how she has been of help in assisting the husband to take adequate care of members. According to her, she regularly calls them together for counselling.

Yet for another member, Mrs. Grace Michael, the Treasurer of Ark of God Women, being itsthe day of mothers, they are working in one accord, that is why everybody is in a beautiful andcolourful to the glory of God.

Cyriacus Nnaji/ GEE

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