His first stint as an agri-entrepreneur was in poultry. Innocent Mokidi, Chief Executive, Brote Urban Farm’s instant success in poultry encouraged him to diversify into vegetable farming. Today, the Abuja-based farmer is the proud owner of a flourishing agricbusiness worth N6 million. DANIEL ESSIET reports.
He never envisaged he would become a successful agri-entrepreneur. But as providence would have it, a risk taken saw Innocent Mokidi, the Chief Executive of Brote Urban Farm, dumping paid employment for farming. The Abuja-based young entrepreneur is today the proud owner of a flourishing agro-business with a strong presence in poultry and vegetable farming.
Mokidi, an Accounting graduate from Edo State, started out in 2013 as a poultry keeper with 1,000 birds. Today, three years down the line, he is a proud owner of 5000 layers birds. In and around Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, where he resides, he is one of the most sought-after poultry farmers. The instant success that accompanied his poultry business has made him a reference point in commercial farming particularly for youths.
However, Mokidi’s success did not come without hard work, strategic planning and implementation. He ensured a proper care for the chicken. For instance, he was meticulous in the purchase of feeds and drugs for the birds. He also obtained them from accredited dealers to guarantee quality. He also ensured warding off of possible outbreak of diseases that could wipe out his farm.
Mokidi’s painstaking handling of the business, which resulted in his huge and instant success, must have encouraged him to diversify into vegetable farming. The move, The Nation learnt, was aimed at tapping into the growing market for organic foods. According to him, food stores across the country are struggling to meet the growing demand for organic vegetables, an opportunity he said, he was determined to take advantage of the boom in consumer demand, driven largely by health-consciousness. Again, like the poultry business, it was a success.
The Nation learnt that consumers’ health-consciousness in favour of organic foods has been on the increase hence, the growing domestic demand for vegetables for use in making salads and other foods. Mokidi was one of those who saw the opportunity consequently increased his capacity in organic production to meet the rising demand.
According to nutrition experts, organic produce tastes better than produce from chemical farming. Organic foods also stay fresh longer, and make better cooking. Some of Mokidi’s findings from his research on profitable organic farming enabled him to identify organic vegetables with higher projected yields. Today, the budding agri- entrepreneur is cultivating half of an acre of pumpkin, one acre of tomatoes using drip irrigation, half of an acre for greenhouse tomatoes and the other half for organic vegetables.
His strategy specialises in fast-maturing crops that take an average of three months to be ready—with returns high upon harvesting. He grows vegetables such as beans, tomato, radish and other green leafy vegetables. He has all the needed knowledge and skill, which included enrichment of fertiliser and pest management. He has better farming skills in post-harvest management, marketing, business planning, compost making and saving.
His Brote Urban Vegetables Farm has also established a nursery and vegetable farm in Abuja, he plans to grow more vegetable farms in the future. This is in the hope of further taking advantage of the huge opportunity that exists for growers in the near future. Mokidi is also building low cost greenhouses to ensure that vegetables are grown in environmentally friendly greenhouses.
Another strategy that worked for him was perhaps, his eagerness to learn and understand quickly. His hard work has become an inspiration for young people who wish to venture into farming to beat poverty and create jobs. The same hard work, it was gathered, made him to learn how to construct green house, using locally fabricated materials.
The success of farmers such as Mokidi has inspired young people to reconsider farming as a solution to poverty. Having single-handedly nurtured the business into a N6 million enterprise, his advice to young entrepreneurs is that they should not give up on their dreams and should always be ready to learn and try new ways of doing things.
“That you fail today does not mean you are not good; it only brings you closer to your goals,” he said. That is food for thought for Nigerian youths, particularly those wishing to make a career in farming.
