How Agrorite Is Creating Resilience Against Food Insecurity

How Agrorite is creating resilience against food insecurity

Agriculture has always been and will continue to be a significant contributor to Nigeria's GDP, second only to crude oil. According to Statista, agriculture contributed 22.35 percent of total Nigerian GDP between January and March 2021, an increase of nearly one percentage point over the same period in 2020. Apart from the GDP, agriculture provides employment and a means of subsistence for millions of Nigerians. Nonetheless, increased awareness of the importance of global food security and sustainable food production has resulted in a boom in the agricultural sector, spawning tech-enabled agricultural companies dedicated to combating global food crises.

While agribusiness encompasses all aspects of agriculture, the agro commodity trading value chain offers significant opportunities for foreign revenue generation and food circulation. However, a sizable proportion of crops grown locally in Nigeria make the list of agricultural commodities for export. These crops include, but are not limited to, cashew, sesame, cocoa, and ginger, and the international demand for these products makes them economically viable. Nigeria, for example, is Africa's fourth largest cashew nut producer and sixth largest in the world, producing 160,000 metric tons per year and expected to reach 500,000 metric tons by 2025. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, sesame was the most exported agricultural commodity in the first quarter of 2021, with N42 billion worth of the crop exported and N3.4 billion worth of sesame oil extracted, and Nigeria ranked third in sesame production, behind China and India. These two crops account for more than 60% of all agricultural exports in Nigeria.

Impact on Smallholder Farmers

Smallholder farmers are critical to food security, but their contribution is not commensurate with their pay and livelihood, as the majority of smallholder farmers live below the poverty line. This is why Agrorite is committed to working primarily with these farmers, providing them with access to funds and training, as well as ensuring that their produce is purchased at a competitive price by assisting them with lin. The success stories of our farmer's network, beginning with Mr Ule, a smallholder farmer in Benue state, are the driving force behind what Agrorite has done and continues to do to improve their livelihoods and production capacity.

Tech Enable Production 

Agrorite, as a premium agritech company, is a major player in the agricultural sector and has made significant contributions to global food circulation by partnering with local producers of sesame, cashew, cocoa, maize, sorghum, and livestock. Additionally, recognizing the potential and importance of food circulation, Agrorite has expanded its operations beyond Nigeria, establishing operations in Guinea Bissau, Ghana, the Republic of Benin, and the United Kingdom as part of its expansion strategy. This move has resulted in job creation throughout the value chain, particularly for smallholder farmers seeking to improve their livelihoods, as well as an increase in Agrorite's growing staff capacity. This is in addition to Agrorite's support for a network of over 130,000 farmers. We hope to double our exports of over 350,000MT of produce by the end of the first quarter of 2022, and to expand our network of smallholder farmers across the continent from 130,000.

Storage and Preservation 

Preservation and storage are critical components of the commodity trading business because storage is defined as the process of preserving agricultural products for future use as food, raw materials, fuel, or for sale while maintaining their original state, whereas preservation is defined as the process of preserving agricultural produce to avoid deterioration or spoilage caused by microorganisms.

In Nigeria, agricultural produce suffers significant post-harvest losses as a result of insufficient storage capacity and inadequate preservation practices. This eventually degrades the produce's quality and value, as well as its price point. This produce is primarily grown by small-scale farmers with little or no formal education. To enhance and maintain the quality of export crops, these farmers must be trained and equipped with modern storage and preservation techniques. Farmers are trained not only in storage, but also in producing the highest quality produce with the required moisture content. With over 40,000 capacity Agrorite warehouses strategically located throughout the country, it is assisting farmers with storage facility challenges.

Access to Market 

Selling their produce is one of the obstacles that every smallholder farmer must overcome in order to ensure that their produce reaches the consumer and avoids post-harvest losses. This is an area where Agrorite has been able to leverage her network of offtakers to connect these farmers with premium buyers both locally and internationally who will purchase their produce at a reasonable price.

Enabling Environment for Trade

Government must play a role in order for businesses and economies to thrive. Effective market penetration and access to international markets may be difficult to achieve due to the diversity of political, economic, and regulatory differences between domestic and international markets. Access to capital has become a major issue for small and medium-sized enterprises interested in the sector due to the capital requirements of the trade. This is where the government can initiate initiatives to promote export and facilitate access to chambers of commerce. Additionally, because businesses operating in this space have limited capacity, expanding capacity will require additional funding, expanded networks, and human resources. Private investors can take full advantage of this as a means of achieving scalability through key financial partnerships.

It is fair to say that we are living in exciting times in the agricultural business. Agrorite is always open to exploring and collaborating with other stakeholders to drive positive impact in the sector through partnerships with both local and international processing companies, bodies, and even government agencies. With our presence in over 25 states and statistics to back it up, the sector appears to be promising, with significant potential for foreign revenue generation, growth, and job creation. We are confident that by working together, we can accomplish more and turn agriculture into a gold mine.