Is farming a business? You may be wondering why I am asking you this question. This is the same question I asked a lot farmers in some villages visited in one of our survey. To my surprise, I got a lot of responses from them which I could not have imagine such as “it was inherited from my father”; “I am doing it because there is no other means of survival” while other people said “it is our traditions and another set of people said that “it is the only occupation I can do and it is for less privilege”. In fact it was only few people that said “it is my business”. No wonder farming is seen as an occupation for the poor and less privilege in our societies. I got to know that there is a great difference in the attitude and life style of those who consider farming as a business and others. Do you want to know why?

Farmers that see farming as a legacy inherited from their ancestors which I called Old Time Farmers were only cultivating the same portion of land inherited while using the same traditional methods of farming practiced by their fore-fathers. Meanwhile those that are into farming just because there is no other means which I called Accidental Farmers are into farming while waiting for another job opportunity to come so that they can leave it and diversify into other businesses. Another farmers which I called Traditional Farmers are into farming only for one reason- “it is our tradition”, this set of farmers have no vision let alone mission on how it can be expanded. Interestingly, a group of farmers that believe farming is meant for less privilege which I called Poor Farmers. This set of farmers are sincerely poor just because they have poverty mentality and they are living their lives just like that.  All these set of farmers I have just mentioned dominated the group of farmers in our rural areas in Nigeria.

However, very few of the farmers said farming is a business which I called Business Farmers. They are very unique among others, although a good number of them were educated while other were not. Is it the level of education that make the difference among these farmers? We will discuss that in our next edition but let’s continue with what we are discussing now. Is farming a business?

Yes, farming is a business. Just be patient I will get you convinced shortly.

According to David Kahan Farmer-entrepreneurs see their farms as a business. They see their farms as a means of earning profits. They are passionate about their farm business and are willing to take calculated risks to make their farms profitable and their businesses grow. Oh! now you got it.

A business farmer who David Kahan called “farmer entrepreneur” are farmers who ask themselves these following questions: what to produce? How to produce? And for whom to produce? They are entrepreneurs who produce a clear picture in their mind of what is possible and future they want. They always identify new opportunities, embrace it with the understanding that profits are made in the market.

Having gotten the understanding that farming is a business and it is meant for those who can take calculated risks to make their profits, there is a need for us to look at those things needed to make it work.

Farming must start with a business plan. What do I mean? According to the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in South Africa. A business plan is a document/plan of how a business owner, manager or entrepreneur intends to organize an entrepreneurial endeavour and implement activities necessary and sufficient for the venture to succeed. It is an essential tool for planning, direction and running a business. It clarifies the operational and financial objectives of a business and contains the detailed plans and budgets showing how the objectives are to be realized.

Other things needed to be taken into consideration are:

• Accessibility to relevant information
• Accessibility to finance
• Record keeping
• Marketing analysis