Agricultural

Entrepreneurship:
A Farmers
Experience
By
Henrietta Ingo Ogan Ph.D

Chairman/CEO
Ibiteinye Integrated
Farms

What is Agriculture?
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals,
plants, fungi and other life forms for food,
fibre, biofuel, medicinal and other products
used to sustain and enhance human life.
It could also be defined as the process of
producing food, feed, fibre and many other
desired products by the cultivation of
certain plants and raising of domesticated
animals (livestocks).
The practice of agriculture is also known as
farming.

Origin of Agriculture/Farming
Agriculture started immediately after the creation of
man. As you can see from Genesis 1:28 &29 as stated
below; God created everything from the beginning and
simply asked man (us) to tend and replenish it for
survival, development and growth.
V28: Then God blessed them, and God said to them,
be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it;
have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of
the air, and over every living thing that moves on the
earth.
V29: And God said, see, I have given you every herb
that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and
every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for
food.

This I call, AGRICULTURAL ENTERPRISE

Types of Agriculture/Farming
There are two major types of
Agricultural/Farming practices namely;
Conventional Agriculture
Sustainable Agriculture

Conventional agriculture
This involves:
Altering or changing the natural environment
(removing trees, tilling the soil, installing an
irrigation system, etc.
Mono-cropping, or planting one crop (only
corn is grown on a plot).
The crops grown are non-renewable after
harvesting, the plot is bare again and requires
cultivation (tilling and plowing of the soil),
fertilization, planting, irrigation (watering)
and harvesting all over again.

 Diversity is eliminated in order to maintain

uniformity
Using insecticides and pesticides to keep insects
and animals from eating the crops; these
chemicals are not only poisonous to insects,
animals and humans, they also pollute ground
water, streams, rivers, and oceans.
Using inorganic fertilizers to provide nutrients to
the soil.
A lot of energy and work for the farmer to
maintain this unnatural farming system; nature is
more aligned with diversity (it wants to be wild),
rather than controlled and uniform.

The Effects of Conventional Agriculture

include:
Since the plot is stripped of its natural
environmental features, the plants are vulnerable
to disease, high herbivore predation, and soil
erosion.
A decrease in bio-diversity means many animals
lose their habitat and either relocate or become
extinct.
After harvesting, the plot is empty, leaving the
soil bare and prone to soil erosion.

 The use of insecticides and pesticides

pollutes the environment on many levels:
the soil, streams, creeks, rivers,
underground water sources, well water, the
ocean, and even the people. This poisoning
can cause severe illness and even death.
Crop disease, drought (no rain), fire, or
heavy rain-fall can destroy a crop, thus
causing severe economic hardship for the
farmer and even the consumer because
when the quantity of a crop is low and
when the supply is low the price is

Sustainable Agriculture (agro-ecology)

This uses ecological principles to farm, hence the
prefix agro- to farm and ecology which is the science
of the relationships between organisms and their
environments.
Agro-ecology involves:
Maintaining the natural environment and using
ecological principles for sustained farming
practices.
Poly-cropping, or planting many crops together
(ex: planting rows of corn, bean etc together
rather than in separate plots, like monocropping).

 Since many plants are planted together, and each

one has a different harvesting period, the plot is
never bare. This reduces soil erosion.
Diversity is maintained and even increased over
time.
A diverse system of plants may attract several
species of herbivores. Some of these herbivores
eat specific kinds of plants. Predator species
usually do not have a preference for which
herbivores to eat. This predation keeps the
herbivore population in check, thus reducing
predation of any one crop.

 Some plants are natural insect

repellents and thus reduce the need to
use insecticides.
Nutrients from each intercrop plant
provide different nutrients to the soil,
thus increasing its fertility.
Less energy is required from the
farmer because the agriculture system
sustains itself.

The Effects of Sustainable Agriculture includes:

Using ecological principles increases biodiversity. Not only are animals homes salvaged,
but the natural ecological system protects and
sustains itself from soil erosion, severe herbivore
predation, and crop disease.
Since insecticides and pesticides are not used,
pollution and the harmful effects of ingesting
these poisons are not an issue.
Since each intercropping plant supplies a
different nutrient to the soil, less or even no
fertilizers are added to the soil.

 This type of agriculture is aligned with nature

and uses the principles of nature to sustain itself.
Farmers experience less or no economic loss
with this type of agriculture system because the
natural environment protects itself from crop
disease due to diversity of species, soil erosion,
flooding, droughts, and fire.

From the above, it is obvious that the sustainable

agriculture is the better option. Be that as it may,
each farm is its own entity with its own unique
philosophies, methods, practices and operations of
raising crops and/or rearing animals according to
the climate, soil, terrain, and the farmer him/herself.
However, modern technology and the ease with
which information is received and shared have made
it possible for one to borrow, integrate and apply
ideas from different climes and terrains.

Types of Farming
Farming can be classified/grouped according to
what it grows and how it is grown:
Arable farming: grows crops, e.g. wheat, maize
etc.
Pastoral farming: raising animals, e.g. poultry,
piggery etc.
Mixed farming: Comprises both arable and
pastoral

 Subsistence: Grown just for the farmer and his family.

Little is left over to sell. It is often small scale and
generally involves a mixture of crops and animals. The
farm has little technology or machinery but may be
labour intensive.
Commercial: Grown for profit purposes, it usually
involves farming on a large scale, using fewer workers
but lots of machinery and technology. The produce is
sold at the market.

 Intensive: High inputs of labour or capital usually small

expanse of land
Extensive: Low inputs of labour or capital usually large
expanse of land e.g. ranch.
Sedentary: Permanently in one place
Nomadic: The farmers move around to find new areas to
farm

Agriculture/Farming as an Enterprise
Simply put, an Enterprise is the addition of value to what
is in existence for our benefit and for those of others far and
near.
Since agriculture/farming is generally speaking, the
tending of plants and animals to provide useful goods and
services meant to save, develop, and grow the human race in
all ramifications, it is an enterprise.

To succeed in any enterprise you wish to carry out

including farming, it is very important to understand its pros
and cons, emerging trends, its impact on the environment,
including the human race etc. This is because there is no
enterprise anybody in the world today wants to into that has
not been practiced in one form or the other.
For sustainable and enduring success therefore, the
Vision/Mission of any Enterprise should be to
contribute
towards the continued existence of the human race

My Experience as a Farmer
The idea of Ibiteinye Integrated Farms (IIF) was born
from writing an article on how to feed in times of FAMINE.
The project was conceived in the year 2002 with its
Vision and Mission as follows:
VISION: To contribute towards global food sufficiency
through environmentally friendly and sustainable agricultural
practiCes.

MISSION: To create employment through Poultry,

Aquaculture, Piggery, Snaillery, Fruits, Vegetables, herbs
farming etc.
To convert farm wastes to high quality usable organic
manure and clean energy for the farm use, thereby
significantly reducing environmental pollution.
The farm occupies 2 hectares of land with the capacity
to yield 21,696 culled layers, 262,800 eggs,144 tonnes of
mature fresh fish and 9 tonnes of pork meat per annum.

Since the farm produces about 120

tonnes of poultry waste, 480 tonnes of
Piggery waste and 100 tonnes from
other waste streams per annum. The
farm thus intends to convert the manure from the
piggery and poultry wastes to methane gas for
her energy needs.
The farm produces the feed for its livestock and
also hatches its fingerlings.

Snail Pen with Tilapia

Potted Scent Leaves and

Pepper

Potted Okro

Strawberry Planted on the

Soakaway

Grapes as an Experiment

Spinach and Mango Tree

Banana and Concrete Fish

Pond

Pig Pen / Sow with her

Pigglets

Piggery Waste Receptacle

Feed-Mill

Layers in the Brooding House

and Battery Cages

Is Agriculture/Farming Profitable?
Agriculture is profitable all things being equal. However,
since one is dealing with living entities, care
must be taken
to tend such in a sustainable manner before profit can be
obtained.
In IIF for instance all workers, especially in the Life
stock sections have been trained to know what to expect and
to promptly report any deviations from expectations.

When that happens we call other farmers to find out if

they have experienced such and what positive steps they took.
We also call the various vets/agricultural experts we have on
our list depending on the area of specialization. We also
follow the instruction given by our suppliers (Agrited) in
terms of feeding, and physical environment etc.
We also consult and learn from those who have broken
grounds in the enterprise like the Songhai Revolution
founded by Rev. Fr. Godfrey Nzamujo.

Agriculture has never been given its pride of place the

world over, otherwise we will never have food shortage, all
things being equal (drought, earthquake, storms, tsunamis
etc).
We should remember that the practice of agriculture i.e
tending what is available in our environment (environment
being defined as land, atmosphere, plants/animals of different
species and sizes including the seen and unseen, water,
mountains, forests etc.) is an instruction given by God for
the survival of the human race.

We should also bear in mind that the word tend implies

patiently care for and grow/increase/develop in quality and
quantity.
In summary, agriculture is the sine-qua-non to sustainable
growth and survival of the human race. Though an
individual or group can go into any form of the practice of
agriculture, it has to be practiced in such a way that other
components of the environment are enhanced and not
compromised, this will then lead to profitability in business.

THANK YOU AND GOD

BLESS