Agricincome Tour At Agrikk Matas Ede, Osun State

Agric Income team led by the founder Farotimi Olaoluwa arrived at Agrikk Matas Ede, Osun State around 8.30am on 17th February. We were duly received by the owner of the farm, Farmer Kayode Afolabi and his wife. Before going around the farm, we had an interview section with the CEO Mr. Afolabi Kayode who coincidentally is also the President of All Farmers Association of Nigeria, Osun State Chapter shared with us his experience and startup stories. The farm, sitting on a 20 acres land mass, was established on February 13, 2014, with fish farming alone. It then progresses to livestock (sheep, goats, bee, pigs etc.) and crop production (cassava, tomatoes, pepper, oil palm, plantain etc.). Agrikk Matas also offers training and consultancy services. There is also a processing plant which can prosecute cassava, fish and mushroom production.

  
Mr. Kayode Afolabi shared the secret of the success of the farm over the years, he said even though the government has not been proactive in terms of Agricultural development, the determination to succeed coupled with the grace of God has been the driving force for the business, hard work and on-time supervision of all the sectors in the farm.

When asked about the marketing strategies he has been adopting over the years, he said that he has several market channels in Osogbo and other locations. He also stressed the importance of doing a market survey, even before starting any agri-business.
After the interview section, we were taking around the various section of the farm.

The farm is divided into the following sections:
1. The mushroom section which comprises of the mixing room, inoculation room, and a laboratory.
2. Relaxation area
3. Bagging area.
4. Oil palm nursery where the Tenera species are kept prior to their sales.
5. Agrochemical sales point
6. Fish feed depot
7. Sucker multiplication zone
8. Hatchery (which can house 200,000 juveniles per cycle)
9. A sorting/ counting room where juveniles are counted before sales
10. A feed mill (a project in progress)
11. A nursery section for Tomatoes and pepper
12. Concrete ponds (which can house over 5000 fishes of different species)
13. A fish processing room built to NAFDAC specification. It has electric, gas and charcoal ovens.
14. A cold room.
15. Garri processing plant
16. Grasscutter section
17. Over 20 Earthen ponds of different sizes
18. Piggery
19. Greenhouses (which housed tomato, and pepper of different varieties).

Agrikk Matas is well equipped with good housing designed to ensure it meets the requirement of a standard farm. After going around the farm, he expressed his appreciation and also advised us to go into farming because it is profitable and sustainable. The team left the farm around 10:45 am with memories of good farming practices worth sharing with beginners and practicing farmers.