Least Explored Farming Ventures
Least explored farming ventures are those that play an important role in the agricultural value chain but are not practiced by many farmers. In other words, they seem to fly under the radar of more popular agribusiness ideas. They are also ventures that have great potential if undertaken at the right scale and marketed well to potential consumers. This article will delve into the 4 least explored farming ventures in Africa and why you should consider them.
Why should you consider least explored farming ventures?
The least explored farming ventures have market opportunities that many looking for agribusiness ideas do not notice. There is very low competition in the market for commodities from least explored farming ventures. This is natural as the market is dominated by very few producers who take advantage and enjoy stable prices and high profits all year long.
It is also important to position yourself as an authority or expert within the least explored farming ventures. This will give you an opportunity to be a market leader in either upstream or downstream opportunities that arise. You can breed and sell breeding stock to farmers for least explored niches like rabbits or turkeys. You could also focus on downstream opportunities like selling mature animals for meat to restaurants and butcheries. Equally, this can also apply to least explored crop farming ventures.
How we determine our top least explored farming ventures
We determine our top least explored farming ventures on the basis of the following factors;
Annual production
Demand and per capita consumption
Top 4 Least explored farming ventures
For a long time, arrowroot farming was practiced by farmers who owned land on river banks and streams. The popular belief was that arrowroots have very high water requirements and can only grow in wetlands. This assumption has been proved to be false. Despite arrowroots’ ability to grow away from river banks and other wet areas, the uptake of arrowroot farming is still very low in Africa.
There is a high demand for arrowroots in many markets. They fetch higher prices than all the other root tubers. Popular varieties of arrowroots in Africa are the Dasheen and Eddoe varieties.
Learn more about arrowroot farming opportunities in Africa.
Not many farmers are aware that goats can be reared for their milk and not just meat. Also, many dairy consumers are not aware of the existence of goat milk in the market. While the goat milk production figures are still very minimal, dairy goat farming is an area that holds great potential. In places like Kenya, goat milk is a rare commodity that is sold at three times the price of cow milk. A litre of raw cow milk is sold at $0.6 while that of a goat ranges from $1.5 to $2.
Goat milk is known to be healthier than cow milk. It has a high presence of proteins than a cow’s milk. Goat milk also has higher amounts of calcium, potassium, and vitamin A.
Dairy goat farming is easy to start and operate. Goats are hardier than dairy cattle. They can withstand harsh climates in addition to producing well even when fed low-quality pastures.
Learn more about goat farming opportunities in Africa.
3. Mushroom farming
Mushrooms have been consumed in Africa for generations. While most of the consumed mushrooms grow wildly from May to August, farmers are now mimicking the natural ecological conditions and farming mushrooms in special homemade structures. Supermarkets are also gradually beginning to stock dried mushrooms as the consumption of the fungus increases. This is another unexplored area that farmers need to focus on.
Fruit tree farming is yet to be completely embraced as a viable farming venture despite the associated profitability. Popular fruit tree farming niches in Africa include avocado, mangoes, oranges, apples, pawpaws, and even nut trees like macadamia. Farmers tend to ignore these ventures because they take a long time to reach maturity when compared to short and medium-season crops like potatoes and vegetables. Fruit tree farming is one of the best long-term investment plans. Most fruit trees have a productive period of over 40 years.
Learn more about fruit tree farming opportunities in Africa.
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