The Agric Channel

26/01/2024

📢 Job Opportunities!

AGRA, an African-led institution that actively supports the drive towards inclusive agricultural transformation and sustainable food systems is recruiting for multiple positions in the organization.

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Application Deadline > 2 February 2024

11/01/2024

Turn your Agrifood business into a global venture.

Join Food for Nations' Food Export Training: themed "Food Safety and Standardization for Global Market."

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Follow for more.

25/12/2023

Merry Christmas to everyone.

Wishing you all a holiday season filled with all round blessings & peace of mind.

30/11/2023

Enterprise for Youths in Agriculture (.official)

Work | Learn | Earn

January 2024 to March 2024

www.sfarmlab.com/EYiA/

Resumption: Jan. 8, 2024

You can register!
18yrs to 29yrs

Free: Lecture | Accommodation
+ *monthly stipends $50*

08/11/2023

Unlocking Agribusiness Prosperity: Navigating Financial Terrain for Growth & Global Impact.

Join us this morning for an insightful event that will transform the way you approach agribusiness financing.

Agribusiness plays a pivotal role in our global food supply chain, and it's crucial for sustainable growth. In this virtual session, we'll explore financial strategies and tools to drive prosperity in the agribusiness sector.

🔑 Key Topics:

✅ Innovative financing solutions.
✅ Global market trends
✅ Sustainability and impact
✅ Success stories in agribusiness Don't miss out on this opportunity to gain valuable insights and connect with industry experts.

Register now and unlock the potential of agribusiness!

For registration and more details, visit https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIlcO2urjgiHtHa65rFMIchZjO4NmRlM6RN

📅 Date: 08/11/23
🕙 Time: 10:00 AM 🇳🇬
🌐 Virtual Event via Zoom

inclusion

07/11/2023

Soil is a living resource, home to more than 25% of our Earth's biodiversity!

affects the food we eat, the air we breath and the water we drink.

This image post reveals how contaminants can enter soil through various routes and affect our environment.

📸:

06/11/2023

AN Abuja-based think tank, , has warned that unless urgent and bold actions are taken, Nigeria risks becoming one of the worst-affected countries by climate change.

The Agora Policy stated this in its report, titled: ‘Climate Change and Socio-Economic Development in Nigeria, which was released in Abuja and was produced with the support of the .

According to the 84-page report, it identifies opportunities for Nigeria to address climate change, while supporting economic growth and resilience.

The report states: “It is evident that climate change is not a marginal or peripheral issue that the government and the people of Nigeria can take lightly.

“Climate change is compounding poverty challenges in Nigeria and impeding the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals,” adds the report. “Climate change is already increasing hunger, poverty, disease burden, migration, conflict and insecurity in Nigeria. It is damaging infrastructure, changing Nigeria’s coastlines, fuelling desertification, producing water scarcity, facilitating erosion and resulting in the loss of revenue for states and the national government.”

The report also stated that “Climate change offers opportunities for economic competitiveness, energy security, and sustainable development.”

“There are many climate-led opportunities that Nigeria can explore to enable rapid economic growth, create jobs for a rapidly growing youthful and urbanising population, and address high levels of abject poverty and inequality through a just transition.”

Urging the Federal Government to consciously pursue a climate-compatible development agenda, the report called for investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency, promoting climate-smart agriculture, embracing green manufacturing, harnessing natural resources for adaptation, and enhancing disaster risk reduction systems.

06/11/2023

AS farmers risk their lives to produce food for over 200 million mouths daily, the Chairman Board of Trustees of the Federation of Agricultural Commodity Associations of Nigeria, FACAN, Dr Victor Iyama, weekend, called on the Federal Government to prioritize the security of farmers to boost food security.

Iyama speaking with newsmen said the insecurity on farms is worrisome and poses a threat to food production, even as the Food and Agriculture Organisation, FAO, released a report that 26.5 million Nigerians will experience a food crisis in 2024.

According to him, the recent short–, medium— and long-term plan to boost food and nutrition security released by the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security is good, but the major issue is to ensure the security of farmers.

He said: “What should be done differently as I have always mentioned is to make sure whatever intervention they are doing goes straight to the players in the field, and once if they can ensure that and of course, security of lives and property of the farmers because there is no gainsaying if we go the farms and be looking at our shoulders in fear of terrorists and bandits.

“That is one key factor that we must take into consideration. So security is above everything.”

However, he noted that it is a herculean task to secure the farms, but could be done through community security arrangements.

“As far as we are concerned, securing the farms is a very difficult thing but then we are going to have community security and vigilantes are not easy to secure even to the remotest villages. I am involved and I know, the greatest agricultural impediment in the country today is security.

“If we can take care of that there will be a boom in the agricultural sector. So if we can achieve that to secure the farms it will bring about huge agricultural productivity”, he said.

30/10/2023

As part of moves to address the high cost of livestock feed, occasioned by the soaring price of key components of feeds composition, the Federal Government has put machinery in motion to introduce cassava as a strategic replacement for maize and soybeans.

To achieve this, thousands of hectares are set to be acquired nationwide to grow cassava, to lessen the cost of inputs for livestock producers, in order to elevate their standard of living.

In the last two years, the poultry industry has been on the brink of total collapse due to the persistent hike in the price of maize.

Poultry farmers have raised the alarm that the upward surge in the cost of maize is forcing their colleagues to shut down their operations nationwide, due to huge losses incurred on a daily basis.

According to the National President of the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), Sunday Ezeobiora, who appealed to the Federal Government to employ urgent intervention into the subsector, he cried out that the country, is heading for a crash if the government fails to salvage the industry.

The Director General/Chief Executive, Feed Nigeria Summit Secretariat, Richard-Mark Mbaram, who disclosed the plan during a capacity building workshop of African Women in Animal Resources Farming and Agribusiness Network (AWARFA-N) in Abuja, noted that the costs of feed have surged to its highest, with supplies of maize and soya beans limited by weather conditions and insecurity challenges.

30/10/2023

Nigeria has been listed as a beneficiary of the 15 proposals approved by the board of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) totalling $736.4 million to fund new climate projects in developing countries.

The country is among the Renewable Energy Performance Platform (REPP 2). Others in the category are Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Sierra Leone and Zambia with CAMCO.

The board met at the 37th meeting in Tbilisi, Georgia, where decisions to support major outcomes for climate action were reached. The funding amounts to $3.6 billion when co-financing is included. The last board meeting of the year brings GCF programming in 2023 to $2.1 billion of GCF resources and a total of $9.0 billion when co-financing is included.

GCF is the world’s largest dedicated climate fund. GCF’s mandate is to foster a paradigm shift towards low emission, climate-resilient development pathways in developing countries. GCF has a portfolio of $13.5 billion ($51.8 billion including co-financing) delivering transformative climate action, covering 243 projects in more than 120 countries.

It also has a readiness support programme that builds capacity and helps countries develop long-term plans to fight climate change. GCF is an operating entity of the financial mechanism of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and serves the 2015 Paris Agreement, supporting the goal of keeping average global temperature rise well below 2°C.

Specifically, the board three-day meeting marked the last one of GCF’s first replenishment period (2020-2023) having programmed a total of $8.5 billion of its resources, with a total value of $34 billion including co-financing during these three years.

Of the 15 new funding proposals, 12 target the most vulnerable – Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and African States. Eight proposals are for adaptation, one is for mitigation and eight are fully cross-cutting projects.

Project agreements were signed for six of the projects immediately after their approval, reflecting the urgency by GCF and our partners to deliver on the ground.

27/10/2023

on this one.

Be there!!!

26/10/2023

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has urged the Federal Government to reduce agriculture interest loans to single digits to help transform agribusiness.

Obasanjo made the call at the Launch of Youths in Agribusiness project with the theme, “Enabling Scaling of Innovative Technologies for Sustainable Food Solutions.’’

He said that if youths had to go to the bank to borrow money at the rate of 20 per cent interest rate, it would be difficult for them to succeed in the agricultural business.

The former president appealed to the Federal Government to find a way that youths could get access to finance at the right rate for agriculture.

“I believe any interest that is more than a single digit is not good enough for agriculture.”

According to him, agricultural stakeholders have done tremendous work in providing the right seed, hybrid seed, high-yielding seed and knowledge that can be used to transform the agribusiness sector.

“But we need more of these scientific and technological products in the farmers’ hands so that they can be better on what they get in terms of yields,” he said.

He said that food production, food security and nutritional security were very important in Nigeria and there was also a need to create jobs for the teeming population of youth in the country.

On his part, Wouter Plomp, Netherlands Ambassador to Nigeria, said the Youth Agribusiness Programme would be a three-year initiative inspired by Nigerian tenacity and a sprinkle of Dutch innovation to support 8000 young ‘agripreneurs’.

26/10/2023

Don't miss the 2nd episode of FAO's webinar series 📣

Make your voice heard on the path to .

Join & explore how to bring youth-led action to the global climate agenda.

🗓️27 Oct, 2-3.30 pm (CET)

Cop more info on the social media pages.

26/10/2023

In a bid to tackle food security, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), in collaboration with Diamond Development Initiatives (DDI), has distributed farm inputs to over 2,000 farmers in Nasarawa State.

The GAIN senior programme manager, supply chains for commercialisation, Mr Godwin Ehiabhi, revealed this during the inauguration of the farm inputs in Lafia, the state capital.

He explained that the rationale behind the gesture was to enable them establish the Home Garden Initiative in the state, nothing that this would go a long way in fighting the shortage of nutritious foods across the 13 local government areas of the state.

According to him, GAIN—the financiers of the project and DDI who are the implementing partners, stated that the initiative was focus on training households in the establishment and maintenance of home gardens, improved access to quality planting materials, promotion and consumption of vegetables for the home gardens.

His words, “This initiative, launched as a crucial part of the Workforce Nutrition Component within the Strengthening Nutrition in Priority Staples Project (SNiPS), is designed to provide support to farming households, farmers, farm workers and processors in the rice and maize value chains.

“This will improve knowledge and technologies on good agronomic practices for home gardens, improve nutrition education of households on the need to consume nutritious foods grown in their home garden.”

He, however, maintained that the farm inputs include: organic liquid fertiliser, tomato seeds, amaranthus, orange-fleshed, sweet potatoes (OFSP), vines, and branded watering cans to a total of over 2,000 households across the four targeted local government areas of Awe, Doma, Kokona and Lafia.

20/10/2023

https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va5JvO99hXFCkjOYUa3j

19/10/2023

Agriculture programmes in Bells University of Technology Ota are tuition free.

Admissions for 2023/2024 is still in progress.

Kindly Share.

18/10/2023

Amo Farm Sieberer Hatchery Limited, leading agricultural company, has empowered over on 1.3 million households in poultry production through its NatnuPreneur Programme, the company said.

According to Ayoola Oduntan, group managing director of Amo Farm, the scheme aims to provide healthy Noiler chicks to women with technical and marketing support to enable women attain financial independence through backyard poultry farming.

The Noiler breed of chicken is a hybrid of the broiler and local chicken which was first introduced into the poultry market by Amo Farm in 2014 with proven ability to produce high quality poultry protein with a uniquely versatile lifestyle adaptable to backyard scavenging that doesn’t reduce its overall output.

He stated that while the company has empowered over 1.3 million rural households with the Noiler chicken farming, the number could be multiplied by spreading the scheme across the whole of the country and Africa.

He added that the farm, through the natnuPrenuer Programme, provides an off-taker platform where partner farmers can sell their chicken to the natnuPrenuer team at maturity.

12/10/2023

Nigeria has been given a hosting right to African cassava conference targeted to reposition the crop for premium economy, just as the issue of trade mark is being promised for global competiveness.

The conference with the theme " stimulating African's industrialization through development of cassava - based products and assuring quality along cassava value chains" is meant to revisit the issue of derivatives standardization and inclusion of 5% cassava four into bread and other bakeries.

The Minister, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security ( FMAFS) Sen. Abubakar Kyari ably represented by the director of Federal Department, Engr. Abdullahi Abubakar said the outcome of the conference would bring about increased productivity of the crop to stakeholders.

Sen. Kyari said this during a press briefing on the African Cassava conference slated to be held in Nigeria at the Ministry’s conference room in Abuja yesterday. The event date is between 18 - 20th October in Abuja.

The minister added there is a need for Nigeria to have her own trademark in order to be more competitive globally in market places saying that " Since we are the largest cassava producer in the world, it is obvious that we should have some kind of trademark that will make people identify Nigerian cassava derivatives as we have had terrible experience in the past with Nigerian products being trade marked with Ghanian identify in the United Kingdom"

He stressed that amongst other issues that would be revisit is the 5% inclusion of high quality cassava floor in bread, adding it would be a post conference matter with long years of working in progress.

He however commended the efforts of African Union Commission, other partners and private sector for organizing the Africa Cassava Conference 2023 in Nigeria as this will facilitate how stakeholders can work to develop a robust, commercially driven and economically viable cassava sector that will not only contribute to food and nutrition security but also increasingly contribute to growth of the commodity in Nigeria and Africa as a continent.

12/10/2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8iWWYDj0P8

Watch this documentary which presents an update on activities at the Fasola Agribusiness Industrial Hub, Fasola. The hub is fully subscribed as a production ...

10/10/2023

Investments into the Nigerian agriculture sector declined by 83 percent to $10.0 million in the second quarter of 2023, as against $57.41 million recorded in Q2 2022.

According to the latest Capital Importation report from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the agriculture sector accounted for a 0.97 percent share of the $1.03 billion foreign direct investment into the country from April through June 2023.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, investment into the sector surged 107 percent to $10 million in Q2 2023 from $4.84 million in the first quarter of 2023.

The fishing subsector of the agricultural sector did not attract any investment from the period.

Due to the economic downturn, investment in Nigeria generally has been declining. Investments into the Nigerian economy declined by 33 percent to $1.03 billion in the second quarter of 2023, as against $1.535 billion recorded in Q2 2022, and 9 percent when compared to $1.132 billion recorded in Q1 2023.

“In terms of share to the GDP, agriculture and the industry sectors contributed less to the aggregate GDP in the second quarter of 2023 compared to the second quarter of 2022,” the NBS said in its Q2 GDP report.

The agriculture sector has suffered a spate of shocks in recent times. And, the inability of farmers to feel safe going to their farms has further affected food security and food prices in Nigeria.

“The government needs to create the enabling environment and address the worsening rate of insecurity to attract more investments into the sector,” Abiodun Olorondenro, operation manager at Aquashoots Limited said.

The sector is also seeing its profits harmed by rise in major inputs. This coupled with issues of insecurity and climate change is making it even harder for many farmers to make profit, as well as deterring future investments.

“There are a lot of shocks that have impacted the sector for a while, and this might have also impacted the level of investments attracted,” African Farmer Mogaji, chief executive officer of X-Ray Consulting, said in response to questions.

09/10/2023

The growing market for agrochemicals in Nigeria has attracted counterfeiters whose fraudulent activities are flooding the country with huge quantities of fake products. Over 70% of Nigeria’s 190 million people are said to be farmers.

Agrochemicals such as pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, insecticides as well as fertiliser are commonly used in agriculture to control weeds, pests, improve crop performance and increase crop yields.

Fraudsters and counterfeiters eye the global agrochemical market estimated to net $266 billion in 2021 and $308.92 billion by 2025, according to studies.

Over 20% of that market share will be lost globally to the adulteration and counterfeiting industry.

The growing agrochemicals market in Nigeria is driven by a rapid population expansion, demand for food and more people taking to farming in the country.

The Director General, Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON), Osita Anthony Aboloma, recently raised an alarm over the influx of adulterated and substandard agro-chemicals found in many stores across the country.

He stressed that the situation was counterproductive to the country’s drive to rejuvenate its agro-economy.

Speaking in Kano during the public sensitisation workshop organized by the organisation to educate farmers and agro-chemical dealers on the dangers associated with using substandard and adulterated inputs, Aboloma said most of the products in the markets are substandard and adulterated.

“Current investigation by the Standard Organisation of Nigeria of the agro-chemical products in the market confirmed that most of the pesticide products are substandard, containing contaminated contents or do not contain any active ingredients; some are falsified with false country of origin, or re-labelled expired stock, illegal, illicit or counterfeit copies of legitimate brands.

“Like you are aware, pesticides are useful in boosting food production, but equally, they have their own side effects, and if a pesticide that is approved by NAFDAC for use in the country has its own side effects, then you can imagine what the side effect could be for the substandard ones,” he noted.

29/09/2023

The International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste (IDAFLW) will make a clear call to action for public and private entities to take action to reduce food loss and waste (FLW) toward transforming agrifood systems to contribute to the achievement of the 2030 agenda.

Why is reducing food loss and waste important in contributing to agrifood systems transformation?
Between 691 and 783 million people faced hunger in 2022, with a mid-range of 735 million (FAO, 2023). While hunger and food security continue, an estimated 13 percent of the world’s food is lost in the supply chain from post-harvest prior to retail (FAO, 2022); a further 17 percent of food is wasted in households, food services and in retail (UNEP, 2021).

Currently, many of the world’s agrifood systems are unsustainable, as they degrade agricultural land, contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and loss of biodiversity and consume groundwater. Food systems are also vulnerable to external climate and other shocks, partly because of the impact on the environment.

Reducing food loss and waste can play a key role in the transformation of agrifood systems by increasing the availability of food, contributing to food security, healthy diets, and building resilience. Food loss and food waste reduction also serves as a key climate strategy by reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). It can therefore help countries and businesses to raise climate ambition, while conserving and protecting our ecosystems and natural resources upon which the future of food depends.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – specifically SDG 12, target 12.3 – calls for halving per-capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reducing food losses along production and supply chains. Target 16 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) among other issues, also calls for “halving global food waste by 2030.”

Accelerating the pace of actions to reduce FLW toward meeting the SDG 12.3 target, and the target set by the GBF for food waste reduction is a dire necessity to positively impact the pace of agrifood system transformation – with tangible benefits for people and planet.

29/09/2023

Introducing technology to agricultural production and other farming practices has the capacity to transform agrifood systems and rural livelihoods.

Here are just 5 benefits of sustainable .

Credit:

29/09/2023

Ginger production in Nigeria is currently threatened following the attack of a strange disease, destroying over 2,500 hectares of farmlands estimated at N10 billion across seven local government areas in Kaduna State.

The unfortunate incident attracted the attention of government officials including the Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Dr Ezra Yakusak; Kaduna State Commissioner for Agriculture, Murtala Dabo and other stakeholders, who embarked on an assessment tour to the affected local government areas of the state.

Speaking at the end of the tour, Yakusak described the ginger destruction as a mysterious pandemic but assured the affected farmers of the Council’s support.

Yakusak said: “This is complete ruins. From what we have seen here, about 95 per cent of ginger has been wiped away in Kaduna; this will affect our non-oil export performance. There is a need to be worried; this is a pandemic. All hands must be on deck to do what needs to be done by channeling efforts on eradicating the disease.”

He disclosed that Nigeria is currently the fourth largest producer of ginger in the world, as the county’s remains the best because of its pungency “its strong aroma and high oil content, with what is happening in Kaduna State, the world market will be affected which is why we want to see how the Federal Government can intervene.”

The NEPC boss assured that government would continue to support the ginger farmers by providing seedlings, building capacity for farmers’ interns on seed dressing adding that though it will not be an easy task it has to be done.

On his part, Dabo described the ginger pandemic as devastating and unprecedented, stating that Nigeria’s fourth position as the World’s ginger producer is threatened by an outbreak of fungi pathogens infection that wiped out over N10 billion worth of ginger covering 2,500 hectares of farmland in seven LGAs of the state.

29/09/2023

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29/09/2023

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28/09/2023

Youths and women in Nigeria have been admonished to see agriculture as a serious business so they can explore the numerous potentials that abound in it.

Chairman, Hicoti Consulting Limited, Tokunbo Ayekoti, made the admonition while addressing participants during the opening ceremony of a five-day women and youth empowerment programme in different agricultural value chains in selected communities in Ife federal constituency, Osun State.

The five-day training is put together by the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS) in conjunction with Hicoti Consulting Limited.

Ayekoti noted that agriculture if properly explored can help reduce poverty, raise incomes and improve food security. “Agriculture has moved from just mere farming and has become a very serious business which is capable of turning around the fortunes of those who choose to be actively involved in it.

“My advice for the youths and women in Nigeria is to try as much as possible to embrace agriculture in order to benefit immensely from the numerous benefits which abound in it. White collar jobs are not forthcoming these days, so it is very important for youths and women to take full advantage agriculture has to offer.”

He called on participants at the training to pay rapt attention and feel free to ask questions from facilitators who are already prepared to address their curiosities in whatever form.

Comptroller General, Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), Dr. Vincent Isegbe, who was represented on the occasion, told participants to make judicious use of what they will learn at the training so that Nigeria’s agriculture sector will continue to flourish.

The facilitator of the programme, Honourable Taofeek Abimbola Ajilesoro, representing the Ife federal constituency, expressed optimism that participants at the end of the training will contribute immensely to the growth of agriculture in Nigeria.

26/09/2023

The Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, has advised Nigerians to go back to the farm since land is God’s natural gift that remains an asset for employment and productive ventures.

He spoke in Abuja at the weekend when members of Project 774 for Tinubu/Shettima in the 2023 general election paid him a courtesy call in his office.

Abdullahi, who was Senate Deputy Chief Whip and Chairman Board of Trustees, Project 774 for Tinubu/Shettima said: “I want all members of this powerful network to take the message home that we just have to go back to the land. That is our God given natural asset.

“We are preparing very hard to make sure that the right things are done to stimulate agricultural production and increase productivity, because it is one thing to go to farm, it is another thing to be productive. So, we want production and productivity and we are working very hard on this.”

He reiterated that the president understands the problem of the country, saying that it is why his eight-point agenda takes food security as a topmost priority.

According to him, the president’s agenda also touches on economic growth and job creation for which the agricultural and food security sector play major roles.

“The priorities of the president are very clear and straight forward. We have already started digging down to get down to work. I want to appeal to Nigerians that the duty of providing food is a collective responsibility.

“In this administration, the emphasis on food security is a very powerful message. With political will, along with my colleague, Abubakar Kiyari, we will work very hard to ensure we deliver on this mandate. We will continue to engage and guide ourselves. Very soon we will be unveiling our road map in line with the Renewed Hope agenda,” he added.

Convener of Project 774 for Tinubu/Shettima, Dr. Ahmed Adamu, said they were grateful to Tinubu for appointing their leader as minister.

26/09/2023

Hibiscus farming in Nigeria is fast gaining momentum as price of the flower surged over 70 percent in six months, making farmers eye N48 billion in earnings from export in 2023.

According to the Association of Hibiscus Flower Exporters of Nigeria, the country exported 40 feet of 1,983 containers, totaling 23,796 metric tons.

With the current market price at N1.7 million per ton, Hibiscus farmers in the country can rake in N48 billion (N1.7 million multiplied by 23,796) in 2023 to impact their livelihoods.

BusinessDay findings show that farmers are now abandoning growing other crops for hibiscus while existing growers are expanding their production areas as price of the flower has almost doubled year to date.

“Lots of farmers are now abandoning growing other crops to cultivate hibiscus. The prices per ton have almost doubled and this is making farmers grow more of the crop,” Musa Mohammed, a hibiscus farmer in the Andaza area in Jigawa State, said.

“The prices of the flower started surging since Mexico removed its export ban of the flower from Nigeria,” Mohammed added.

Mexico imports about 85 percent of Nigeria’s total hibiscus, according to the Association of Hibiscus Flower Exporters of Nigeria (AHFEN). The country had in April 2021 lifted its ban on the export of Nigeria’s Hibiscus flower into Mexico.

Idris Abubakar, a forty-five-year-old farmer in Jigawa State, told BusinessDay that he is unable to meet up with the current demand of the flower from his customers.

He ended up paying other farmers to grow hibiscus for him as the crop is gaining traction in the international market.

“I had to expand my production area and also employ other farmers to grow hibiscus for me by giving them money because I can no longer meet up with my customers’ demand that is increasing daily,” he said.

Credit: Damilola Odifa ()