The Chief Executive Officer of Commodity Nigeria, Ibrahim Muhammed, popularly known as IBM Bangis, has called for a major shift in how Nigerians approach agriculture, stressing that the country needs more agripreneurs rather than simply increasing the number of farmers.
Speaking at a summit held in Lagos themed “From Labour to Wealth Through Agribusiness,” Ibrahim argued that Nigeria already has a large farming population, but many farmers remain trapped in poverty because they operate without structured business systems, value addition, or market-driven strategies.
According to him, the future of agriculture lies not only in cultivation but in building sustainable businesses across the entire agricultural value chain, including processing, branding, logistics, technology, packaging, distribution, and market access.
“We don’t just need more people farming. We need people who understand agriculture as a business ecosystem,” he said.
He noted that while food is available in markets, many producers are struggling financially due to low profitability, insecurity, rising production costs, and poor value chain structures.
“Farmers are working extremely hard, yet many are not making sustainable income. Some are even leaving the sector entirely because the risks are becoming too high,” he stated.
Ibrahim also raised concerns over the security challenges affecting farming communities across Nigeria, noting that encouraging people to enter farming without creating safer and more profitable systems would be unsustainable.
Rather than focusing solely on primary production, he encouraged Nigerians—especially young people—to identify opportunities within agribusiness sectors such as food processing, climate solutions, agritech, organic food production, storage, transportation, and agritourism.
“The real wealth in agriculture is not only in planting crops. It is in solving problems across the value chain and creating products and services people need,” he explained.
Drawing from Commodity Nigeria’s experience in cassava processing and garri production, Ibrahim highlighted the growing opportunities in areas such as quality control, agricultural data systems, climate-smart technologies, pest management, logistics, hygiene standards, and distribution networks.
He further explained that many members of the organization who joined its programmes while still employed have successfully built agribusiness ventures capable of supporting them after retirement.
According to the organizers, over 500,000 Nigerians have benefited from Commodity Nigeria’s agriculture-focused initiatives via data processing and analysis of the sector, with plans underway to empower millions agripreneurs nationwide with viable, credible data to help them on their path.
Participants at the summit were also introduced to emerging opportunities in data processing, data gathering, data processing, agritourism, food processing, agricultural technology, and sustainable agribusiness models aimed at expanding income opportunities within the sector.
Commodity.ng Insight (In-depth)
This statement reflects one of the most important strategic conversations currently emerging in Nigeria’s agricultural sector: the shift from subsistence farming to agribusiness-driven economic systems.
The distinction between “farmers” and “agripreneurs” is more than semantics—it represents two fundamentally different economic models. Traditional farming focuses mainly on production, while agripreneurship focuses on value creation, scalability, market systems, and profitability.
Nigeria already has millions of people engaged in farming, yet poverty remains widespread within rural agricultural communities. This exposes a core structural issue: production alone does not automatically create wealth. Farmers often operate at the lowest-value end of the food system, while the highest profits are captured further along the chain through processing, branding, logistics, retail, and technology.
This is why the emphasis on value chains is critical. A bag of raw cassava generates limited income compared to processed products such as starch, flour, ethanol, or packaged garri. The same applies across multiple commodities. Countries that successfully industrialize agriculture do not rely solely on cultivation—they build integrated ecosystems around production.
Another key insight is the growing recognition that agriculture must become enterprise-driven rather than survival-driven. For many Nigerians, farming has historically been viewed as a fallback occupation rather than a structured business sector. This mindset has contributed to low investment, weak innovation, and limited scalability.
The statement also touches on an uncomfortable but important reality: Nigeria’s challenge is increasingly less about food availability and more about food system profitability and efficiency. In many urban markets, food exists, but producers themselves often remain financially vulnerable due to poor logistics, post-harvest losses, market inefficiencies, insecurity, and lack of value addition.
Security concerns further complicate this issue. Encouraging more people into direct farming without addressing insecurity and operational risks could deepen vulnerability rather than create prosperity. This is why expanding opportunities beyond cultivation—into processing, storage, agritech, logistics, and distribution—is strategically important. It diversifies income sources and reduces overdependence on high-risk primary production.
The focus on agritech and agricultural data is also significant. Modern agriculture increasingly depends on information systems, climate intelligence, digital marketplaces, and supply chain coordination. This creates opportunities for young entrepreneurs who may not own farmland but can still participate profitably in the food economy through technology and service delivery.
Another major implication is employment generation. Nigeria’s youth population continues to grow rapidly, and agriculture remains one of the few sectors with the capacity to absorb large numbers of workers. However, the jobs of the future in agriculture may not necessarily be traditional farming jobs—they are more likely to emerge in processing, logistics, mechanization, digital agriculture, branding, export coordination, and climate services.
The concept of “labour to wealth” also reflects a broader economic transition. Labour alone often provides income stability, but wealth creation usually comes from ownership, systems building, and value capture. Agripreneurship encourages people to move from simply working within the agricultural system to owning profitable parts of it.
Ultimately, this perspective signals a deeper transformation in Nigeria’s agricultural narrative: the sector is gradually evolving from a subsistence-based survival economy into a business-driven ecosystem where innovation, value addition, and market integration determine success.
The future of Nigerian agriculture may therefore depend not on how many more people enter farming, but on how many can successfully build scalable, profitable, and sustainable businesses around the food system.
