Top 40 Agriculture Business Ideas for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

Top 40 Agriculture Business Ideas for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

Food is one of the most fundamental human necessities, thus there will always be a significant demand for agricultural products in Nigeria and around the world.

Therefore, as a businessperson, you may capitalize on this demand and launch an agro company, generating great money for yourself.

Top 40 Agriculture Business Ideas for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

Below are 40 Agriculture business an aspiring entrepreneurs should consider venturing on.

1. Poultry farming – Layers Breeding

2. Poultry feed production

You may start a feed business and provide feed to all the nearby chicken farms. 

Because chickens need to consume a lot in order to grow, feeds are a significant source of profit for the poultry industry.

You must be quite knowledgeable about raising chickens and the ingredients of the feeds. 

Again, learning from others who have already succeeded in the industry would spare you a lot of time-wasting blunders. 

3. Poultry Farming – Broilers

Broilers are the breed of birds which are basically raised for meat production. The good thing about broilers is that they take very little time to mature because with proper maintenance and all things being equal, it takes an average of 3months to raise broilers from Day Old to Maturity.

Meanwhile, this is a seasonal business because considering the demand and price rate it attracts, statistics have shown that broiler sales controls a higher demand and sales during festive periods like Easter, Christmas, Salla period etc.

following the above explanation, I will recommend that the best time to start this business is February against Easter sales and October for December sales. The cost of a day old chick is N125, while a week old chick goes for N250. It is also advisable to go for a week old chicks because they have a higher survival rate than the day olds if you are not very familiar with how to brood and handle Day old chicks.

Top 40 Agriculture Business Ideas for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

4. Fresh vegetables business

The fresh vegetables business is a small-scale business that you can start with little or no capital base. One benefit of this business is that it requires no cost of maintenance to run the business. Also, there is always demand for fresh leafy vegetables like; the Waterleaf, Scent Leaf, Ugu leaf and Green.

To run this business, you need a small space in your compound or nearby farm where you can cultivate the vegetables. For cultivation, you only need to plant the stem of the vegetable. It takes six weeks or less for the vegetables to mature for harvest. You cut the leaves and sell to consumers and marketers.

5. Cucumber Farming Business

Cucumbers are the 14th most planted vegetable in the world. They are juicy, nutritious and favored by many people for their many health benefits.

Cucumber farming is a very lucrative business as entrepreneurs who are already in the business will testify. The right time to start is now!

6. Chicken and egg distribution business

This basically involves bridging the gap between poultry farmers and the consumer market. It is very lucrative and requires relatively little money to start-up.

You can focus only on chicken, eggs or both. You meet poultry farmers, buy their stock and resell them in the market to wholesalers and retailers. It does not need any special skills, only your marketing abilities and a working vehicle.

7. Poultry equipment manufacturing

These are usually skilled artisans who construct various equipment needed on the poultry farm – welders, carpenters, electricians etc. You can learn the various specifications needed for the poultry equipment and you are in business.

8. Catfish Farming

Catfish is a unique type of fish rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids which helps in managing the human cholesterol levels.

The numerous health benefit of this species of fish makes its demand higher among health-conscious eaters especially people above the age of forty. Restaurants, fast food joints, hotels, food courts (shopping malls like Shoprite), local pepper soup joints, market women, secondary and tertiary institution of learning and offices are possible markets for any entrepreneur venturing into catfish farming in Nigeria.

The profitability of catfish farming depends on how much you are willing to invest as an entrepreneur.

Apart from catfish farming, you can also specialize on feeds for the fish. This is another lucrative aspect in the fish business. There are lots of articles on the internet about how to start catfish farming in Nigeria. Top 40 Agriculture Business Ideas for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

9. Cassava Farming

With increasingly diverse use of cassava products in Nigeria, cassava farming is getting more lucrative with every passing day.

This farm product has always been a source of livelihood and food for millions of Nigerians. 90% of Nigerian households consume cassava products every day.

Some of the meals are: Garri, wheat-flour, animal feed, commercial caramel, and a lot more.

10. Snail Farming

This is another business that is often neglected by entrepreneurs. You can source for small snails either from villages or from snail farmers; rear the snails for a given time and sell for profits.

11. Fish Hatching Business

This is for people who are highly experienced in fish farming. A lot of people who wish to start the fish farming business prefer to hire the services of a fish hatching consultant instead of purchasing fingerlings which is more expensive.

You can start a fish hatching business to help fish farmers start up and expand their business. The amount you charge for your services will depend on your site and number of fingerlings you are required to hatch.

12. Bean Flour Production

Most people prefer to use beans flour for moi-moi and akara. To produce bean flour, you need to buy beans. You can start with 5 buckets of potisco beans at the cost of N1,200 per bucket. Wash out the outer back, dry and grind. In order to build a brand for your business, you may need to place a label inside your packaged bean flour.

13. Corn Flour Business

To start this business, you need to buy like 3 buckets of yellow or white dried corn for about N500 each. Take it to the engine where you grind into flour. You can sell a custard bucket of the flour for N800.

14. Yam Flour Production

Most people prefer to prepare their pounded yam meal from yam flour instead of pounding cooked yams. The era where African men required their wives to pound yam every night for dinner is fast fading away.

This opens up another door for entrepreneurs to venture into the yam flour business. The scale for investment varies depending on available capital. A yam flour business is very simple to start.

At the smallest level, you need a capital of about N20,000 to buy raw yams in large measure. Slice the yams into tiny slices and leave under the sun to dry. After that, you take it to a grinding engine where it will be ground into flour. The next step is to package and sale for N200 per small pack. Top 40 Agriculture Business Ideas for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

15. Mushroom Business

The high demand for mushrooms both within and outside Nigeria has made the mushroom business a viable one. The good thing is that mushrooms take just few weeks to mature, so you can get returns from this business in a matter of weeks.

16. Agro-Produce Exportation

Agro-produce exportation is one of the most lucrative agriculture business ideas one can invest in currently. Nigeria is major exporter of some highly sought agriculture produce like cocoa, cashew, sesame seeds, bitter kola, etc.

The commodities sell in Europe, Asia and America. While importers are crying because of the situation of FOREX, exporters are laughing their way to the bank.

A lot of materials have been written on starting agro-export business in Nigeria. So far, this is the most comprehensive step-by-step guide on the internet regarding the topic.

17. Rice Farming Business

Rice farming is a very practical business in Nigeria. With over 180 million Nigerians that consume rice at least once every week, you have a market hungry and willing to pay for your product. There are government grants put in place to encourage rice farmers.

18. Flower Business

Flower is used for decoration. You can start a flower business in a nursery, and then you sell to house owners and hotel owners. You may charge an extra cost to the buyer to help transplant the flower from the nursery to a permanent soil.

19. Pig Farming Business

If you have enough capital at your disposal, you can venture into a pig farming business. You can start with as little as 10 pigs and grow your farm into a big farm because pigs are known to multiply rapidly.

It takes about 4-6 months for a pig to become matured, and can be sold for as high as N30,000.

20. Corn Farming

There is always a high demand for corn all year round. You can start a large scale corn farm. It takes about 3 to 4 month for corn to mature for harvest. You can opt for supply corn to companies that use it as raw materials.

21. Fodder Growing Business

Most livestock farmers especially those that rear pigs, sheep, and goats have a need for the daily supply of fodders. Fodders are mostly grasses like clover, alfalfa, grass and wheat. You can grow these plants in commercial measure and sell to livestock farmers for a small fee.

22. Foodstuff Distribution Business

You can buy Foodstuffs in bulk quantities from the one part of the country and resell in other parts where such commodity is required. For example, you can buy palm oil from Nsukka and resell in Abuja or you can buy yam from Benue and resell in Sokoto.

It requires knowing what is available where and taking the goods to that place at the right time. A lot of people make their money this way. You can too.

23. Charcoal Supply Business

Most industries use charcoals in large quantities. You can buy charcoal in large quantities from villages and supply to bakeries and other industries that make use of it. A bag of charcoal can be purchased for N1,400 and resold for N2,000 or more. Not just for local supplies, you can also export the charcoal outside the country for a higher price.

24. Plantain and Potato Chips Business

You can purchase raw plantains and potatoes in large quantities, fry and package it, and supply in bulk quantities to stores and supermarkets.

The success of this business depends, to a large extent on your packaging. A lot of people are starting to realize how profitable this business is. It’s nowhere near saturation yet. And you can also start a plantain plantation which is very good business too.

25. Starting a Blog on Agro Niche

Young people are embracing agriculture as an entrepreneurship venture. Most of them need reliable and accurate information to get started. You can start a blog on a niche in agriculture to bridge this information gap.

For instance, you can start a fish farming blog to educate fish farmers and intending fish farmers on new ways to run their fish farming business. You can monetize your blog through adverts, selling of Information Products and Online Consulting.

26. Agro-Based E-commerce Site

Also, you can start an E-commerce site where farmers can display their products for sale. Many farmers complain that agents rip them off their hard-earned profits. So an agro-based E-commerce site will bridge that gap and remove the middle man. It will connect farmers directly with buyers.

27. Agro-Export Agent

Agro-produce exporters need agents who procure agriculture commodities from farmers. These agents know where the farmers and the process for exportation.

28. Shea Butter Extraction and Refinery

There are many agro commodities to invest your capital but one stand out product will always be Shea butter. A large market exists for Shea butter world-wide, particularly as it is organically produced.

Shea butter is in high demand and is a wonderful product. It has high prospect and sells well in the international market. Opportunities exist in its production value chain producing on a small, medium and on a larger scale to meet the growing demand.

There is a growing interest in butter from Nigeria for use as ingredients in the cosmetics, pharmaceutical and confectionery industries, yet the commodity is in limited supply as much of it is processed by local women through crude and labor intensive means.

Investment in the processing of the butter in large volume will not only be profitable, but will also create a feel factor for government support as it is also an avenue for employment for its teeming youths.

29. Yam Business

Yam is another staple food that is in high demand in Nigeria. You can start a large scale yam farming business or you can purchase the yams at a cheaper price from places like Benue State and sell at a higher quantity to retail sellers.

30. Meat Processing Business

Nigeria is yet to have a company that focuses on process meats. Most of the meats sold in the country are kept in an unhygienic environment. You can build a meat process company where meats are processed and preserved in a hygienic environment safe for human consumption. You may not need to rear the animals processed from the scratch, you can buy these animals from livestock farmers in the country.

31. Banana and Plantain Plantation

There is a high demand for ripe banana and ripe and unripe plantain both within and outside Nigeria. You can convert any unused land at your disposal into a banana or plantain farm.

32. Breadfruit Business

A cup of breadfruit is sold for N120 or more depending on the place, and there is an ever high demand for breadfruit despite its high cost. This shows you that the breadfruit business is a practical and profitable business.

You can source for breadfruits from villages in high quantity. The unpeeled ones can be bought for as low as N60 per cup. All you need do is to process it (remove the back) and sell for N120 per cup.

33. Palm Oil Business

Palm oil is required to prepare almost all Nigerian delicacies, thus, there is a high demand for palm oil all year round. You can either start a small-scale oil processing business or purchase the oil in drums and resell for a higher price.

34. Sugar Cane Business

Most industries that produce edible products prefer to make use of sugarcane instead of the white granulated sugar. You can start a sugarcane farm (especially in Northern Nigeria), and supply the matured sugarcane to industries for profit.

35. Bamboo Stick Business

If you look around, you will notice that most of the football viewing centres and drinking joints are built with bamboos, thus there is a sizable demand for bamboo sticks.

The good thing about this business is that it takes just 2 months for a bamboo plant to mature, and a matured bamboo stick is sold for as much as N500. Thus, in less than 3 months; you can start reaping some returns on your investment.

36. Farm Machinery Maintenance Business

Most farmers that make use of heavy farm machinery always have need to service and keep up such machinery. You can start farm machinery maintenance and repair business.

37. Transportation Business For Farmers

One of the challenges most farmers encounter is the lack of means of transportation to get their farm produce from their farms to the market. You can start a farm transport business to help farmers sort their transportation needs for a fee.

38. Online Agric Agency Business

You can serve as an online agent for farmers. You place product adverts on sites like www.alibaba.com, once an order is placed, you source for a farmer that has the produce and supply for a certain percentage of the total sells.

39. Honey Business

You don’t need to have your own bee farm for you to start a honey supply business. You can source for and purchase honey in big jerry-cans from places like Nsukka in Enugu State and sell in small quantities.

40. Tomato Processing Business

Most of the processed tomatoes (tin or sachet tomatoes) consumed in this country are imported from foreign countries. You can source for fresh tomatoes from Northern farmers and start your own tomato processing company.

Top 40 Agriculture Business Ideas for Aspiring Entrepreneurs