By Cynthia Alo

The Group Managing Director of Xtralarge Farms & Resorts Dr. Mrs. Moji Davids, has said Nigeria does not need more farmers but agripreneurs who can create wealth across the agricultural value chain through processing, branding, logistics and market access.

Speaking at the Xtralarge Agriwealth Revolution Summit held recently in Lagos, Davids said the country already has enough people engaged in farming, but many are trapped in poverty because they operate without structured business systems.

According to her, the focus should shift from merely encouraging people to farm to building sustainable agribusinesses capable of generating wealth and employment.

“We don’t need many more farmers. We already have enough farmers in the industry. They say food security, food security, but is there any day you wake up and you go to the market and you don’t find food?” she said.

She noted that despite the availability of food in markets, many farmers are discouraged because they are not making profits from their efforts.

“People are not making it in farming. People are walking their bones out. People are losing money. And some are even losing their lives,” she added.

Davids also raised concerns over insecurity affecting farmers across the country, saying it would be insensitive to encourage people into agriculture without exposing them to safer and more profitable opportunities within the wider agribusiness ecosystem.

“So it’s not just farming we are inviting you to. It is the agribusiness value chain as an ecosystem, where you see beyond the soil and you see the entire value chain,” she stated.

The summit, themed “From Labour to Wealth Through Agribusiness,” attracted entrepreneurs, professionals, investors and aspiring agribusiness operators seeking opportunities in agriculture and agritourism.

Davids encouraged participants to identify gaps within the agricultural value chain and build niche businesses around processing, packaging, branding, distribution and market access.

According to her, wealth creation in agriculture lies beyond cultivation.

“We are raising a new generation of not just farmers but wealthy and sustainable agribusiness people who understand farming beyond the soil. The wealth in agriculture does not only lie in the crop that you are farming, but in the value addition,” she said.

She explained that Xtralarge Farms had spent years helping Nigerians understand agriculture as a business ecosystem rather than subsistence activity.

Drawing from the organisation’s experience in cassava processing and garri production, Davids said many opportunities exist in solving quality control, hygiene, logistics and distribution challenges.

She disclosed that the company moved beyond open market retailing by targeting institutional buyers such as schools and universities.

“It is only when you add value to offer to people in need of something, that you can get something in return for what you are offering,” she said.

Davids further stated that many members of the organisation who joined while still in active service now have stable businesses to fall back on after retirement.

“Many of them joined when they were in active service. Now they retire, they have something to fall back on. Many of them are still in employment, but they are farming in one way or the other, not only farming, adding value to farming,” she added.

Also speaking at the summit, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the company, Seyi Abimbola Davids, said the initiative was designed to move Nigerians from labour-based survival to wealth creation through structured agribusiness systems.

He said rising economic pressure and declining purchasing power have made it necessary for Nigerians to embrace ownership and enterprise.

“Labour alone may sustain you, but it may never make you wealthy,” he said.

The organisers disclosed that over 200,000 Nigerians have benefited from their agriculture-based initiatives in the last decade, adding that the organisation is targeting the empowerment of one million agripreneurs nationwide.

Participants at the summit were also introduced to opportunities in agritourism, food processing, organic food production and agricultural technology as part of efforts to expand income sources within the sector.