12 Most Profitable Farming Business Ideas in Nigeria

There are some profitable farming business ideas you might not be paying attention to, early starters in these businesses are already making cool money. As such, in this post, we’ll share some lucrative agricultural farming ideas with you.

For all the profitable businesses you found on this post, there must be available funding opportunities you can take advantage of to support your business.

The agricultural sector is one of the most booming sectors of the Nigerian economy.

With appropriate strategic planning, anybody having a simple knowledge of farming and the manufacturing process can begin a profitable agriculture business.

Getting into the agriculture business does not require a huge amount of money or large farmland.

With a little piece of land in your backyard, you can plant some crops in small or vertical containers to utilize your space.

In this post, we will share a list of the most profitable agricultural and farming business ideas that anyone in Nigeria can start.

Goat Rearing

Goat rearing is profitable and requires little capital, a very rewarding business one can start in their backyard.

The last time I visited Yobe and Borno States back in 2016, I saw hundreds of heard of goats in “camp” and on the field grassing.

The Northerners are definitely making several millions of naira yearly from goat rearing.

In other parts of the country, most especially in the South West, goats are only reared for consumption. It’s time to start rearing goats on a large and commercial scale.

It seems we don’t really know how much we’re losing from letting goat rearing on a large scale elude us. In The USA and Australia, for instance, farmers are among the richest people.

You can start this business on a large scale and start making some cool money.

Start off capital for goat farming in Nigeria:

N150, 000

With N100,000, you can get seven she-goats, and three he-goats who will be servicing the females.

And use the rest N30, 000 for their feeding for a start while you set aside N20, 000 aside for medicals, goats rarely fall sick if properly taken care of.

Projected Profit:

A grown goat could sell for as much as N20,000 or more.

We’ll discuss this extensively in a new post soon.

Cassava Farming.

This is one of the most lucrative farming businesses in Nigeria unfortunately, it’s mostly done on a subsistence scale in Nigeria.

With the increase in various use of cassava products in Nigeria, cassava farming is becoming more lucrative as the day goes by.

This particular farm product has always been a source of food and a source of revenue for millions of Nigerians.

In Nigerian, 90% of households consume cassava products daily. Some of the common foods made out of cassava are: wheat-flour, garri, animal feed, commercial caramel, and so on.

As the population increases in Nigeria and Africa as a whole, the demand for cassava products will definitely hit the roof, thereby leading to higher revenues being generated by cassava farmers.

If you’re in search of an agricultural business that would guarantee you always almost sell out all your harvests, cassava farming is one great farming business to start.

Plantain Plantation

Do you know that you can create wealth from plantain plantations? Provided you have the land, you can invest as low as N50,000 for a start and start making thousands of naira within the shortest possible time.

One unique thing about plantain is that it never dies, rather it continues to spread

The beauty of plantain:

It’s used for a number of consumables:

• Fry plantain,
• Boil plantain,
• Roasted plantain,
• Plantain flour (the best for people with HBP) etc

Poultry Farming.

Poultry farming is the process of nurturing domesticated birds such as chickens, ducks, and geese with the sole aim of farming meat or eggs for food.

Poultry Farming in Nigeria is perhaps one of the most profitable business ideas in Nigeria.

Chickens mature quickly and this offers one of the finest opportunities for business owners to make profit within a short period of time. With over 160 Million consumers within Nigeria alone, the market is ever ready to be tapped.

The demand for poultry products such as eggs is on the increase that people keep on looking for where to get supplies.

Rice Farming

In West Africa, Nigeria is the largest producer of rice and the third producer in Africa after Egypt and Madagascar producing about 3.6 million metric tons on average yearly.

Remarkably, Nigeria still falls short of meeting its local demand which is estimated at about 5.5 million tons.

Every year, several billions of naira are spent on rice importation, though it seems the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari realised the potential Nigerian farmers have in this neglected profitable agricultural business in Nigeria.

Nigeria now plants and produces more than 50% of the rice that’s consumed locally. Good idea by the government.

The fact is, Nigeria is yet to fully tap into the opportunities in rice farming, though it requires capital if you’re thinking of large-scale rice farming.

At the time of this update, a bag of rice sold for N23,000

Bearing in mind that Nigeria has a huge demand for rice, this is undeniably a lucrative agricultural business idea in Nigeria.

You need to really consider entering the rice farming business which is certainly one of the most lucrative businesses in the Nigerian agricultural sector but requires high capital. That shouldn’t deter you as there are platforms where you can fast loan.

Snail Farming

Snail farming is considered to be one of the most productive agribusinesses you can start with little funds in Nigeria today. Yet, it is one of the most ignored animal-rearing businesses in the country.

Snail farming in Nigeria offers one of the premium opportunities for making money within a short period. Snail farming is a niche and unusual business type.

It is quite expensive to buy snails for eating since snails are very inactive in dry season, they become more and more scarce during this period and the market is starved of sufficient supply until the next rainy season.

Catfish Farming

There are various kinds of fish grown in Nigeria, but a lot of people like catfish because its meat is soft, juicy, and tasty.

However, not everyone knows that this fish can be grown easily even at a small fish farm, you can even start up catfish farming at home.

There’s a very high demand for catfishes annually. The demand is mostly highest from restaurants, bars, football viewing centres, and market women who buy in large quantities and sell in retail either as live or smoked catfish.

Also, individuals demand catfish too for personal consumption. With catfish farming, you’ll never have issues marketing your products.

Pineapple Farming

Pineapple is used in making a good number of beverages around the world. Do we have any Nigerian farmer who plants pineapple on large scale?

Pineapple is also used for fruit salad. In Lagos for instance, a pineapple sells for at least N300.

Assuming you harvest 500 pieces and multiply by N300, do the calculation let me know what you get.

Apart from that, you can go into fruit salad on a large scale and start making millions yearly.

Maize Farming

Maize farming business has undeniably been flourishing in Nigeria for decades. Maize, which is also generally known as corn, is one of the most common food crops in Africa.

Maize is cooked in several ways and millions of Nigerians depend on this crop since it typically costs much less than wheat, rice and other common cereals and grains. The significance of Maize production in Nigeria cannot be overstressed.

Numerous by-products are obtained from Maize. Maize production births lots of other edibles. Some of them are: Corn Oil, Pap, Corn Flour, Alcohol, Custard, Cornflakes, Animal/Livestock Feeds, Corn Starch, and Corn Powder.

Pig Farming

Pig farming is also one of the most lucrative and profitable livestock businesses in Nigeria. Commercial pig farming is advantageous because pigs are highly productive breeders and can birth 10 to 14 piglets in a single delivery.

Pig meat (pork) has an exceptional demand rate since red meat is a vital source of protein and it is tasty as well. The pork market in West Africa alone accounts for about $3 billion in consumption value. 80% of that is obtained by importation. That is a lot of unexploited revenue sources.

Honey Bee Farming

Honey bees can yield lots of honey, and selling honey is also a lucrative business for people who aren’t sensitive to bee stings, who don’t have sufficient funds, and who have got a little vacant space in their backyard to farm their honey bees.

Honey is one of the ancient sweeteners in the world. Fortunately for us, it also possesses a lot of health benefits and uses too. Keeping bees on large scale for commercial purposes as a business plan is on the rise in this fast-growing world.

Beans Farming

Other geopolitical zones in Nigeria have not fully explored the business potentials of bean farming except the Northern part of the country.

Final thought:

The above list of lucrative farming business ideas can turn you into an employer of labour within one to two years, if you’re determined and remain focused, definitely, there would be challenges in the course of implementing your business plans, but the challenges are peculiar to SMEs in Nigeria which is surmountable.

Let’s us know if you have a question regarding this post