NAIJA ORIGIN COMPANY SET TO TRANSFORM AGRIBUSINESS IN NIGERIA BY SUPPORTING AGRICULTURAL CHANGE AND FOOD SECURITY
An Interview held by AFP with OLAM
This is an interview with Dr. Vinod Mishra, on the new agribusiness innovation in OLAMS product re lunch in Nigeria. The interview was conducted by Mr Bright Isaac with the team of editors from Nigeria farming magazine, the oldest and most widely read agribusiness magazine in Nigeria. OLAM group in Nigeria is a leading agri-business company working along the value chain from growing and sourcing of raw commodities to processing, exporting, distribution and the manufacturing of consumer packaging foods.
Below are the interview details.
AFP: – Sir we would like to know you as a person?
OLAM: – my name is Dr. Vinod Mishra, and I am a veterinary Doctor, and an MBA graduate of management. I am an Indian turned Nigerian; am easy going and always ready to offer a listening ear and helping hand. Over twenty six years in Nigeria. Olam group of Companies in Nigeria alone includes; Rice farming, cotton, Coco, sesame, noodles, flour and packed food business.
Just recently Olam saw the need to come in to bridge the gap and improve the poultry industry by establishing a poultry feed plant, fish feed plant, and a state of the art Hatchery in Ilorin and Kaduna states with a combined capacity of 720,000 metric tons of poultry feed, 150,000 metric ton of fish Feed and 78 million Day old chicks annually. These facilities directly address a significant supply gap for poultry products in Nigeria, giving farmers and distributors access to high-quality feed and DOC at competitive prices.
AFP: – Can you give us brief summary of what OLAM is all about?
OLAM: – Olam is a global Agriculture Company with strong roots of over twenty six years in Nigeria.
In 1989, Nigeria was the Launch pad for Olam’s global business endeavours, and we have featured prominently in the country’s economy ever since. With an initial focus on the procurement of primary commodities like cashews, cocoa, sesame and cotton, we gradually refined our operational scope and expanded operations in business like Flour, Rice, Packaged Food, Poultry Feed, Fish Feed and day old chicks, etc. Today, we have approximately 10,000 staff spread throughout the country, engaged in helping small holder farmers in their value chain activities With offices and operational units across all geopolitical zones of the Nigerian Federation, Olam has a wide and growing network of farmers, suppliers, wholesalers, local buying agents (LBAs), customers and service providers.
Today, these networks encompass approximately 50,000 farmers and have created tens of thousands of jobs in indirect employment. We are working hard to do our part – increasing productivity and yield for smallholder farmers; reducing post-harvest losses; contributing to nutrition through education; crop diversification and production of fortified packaged foods; improving water usage and irrigation efficiency, and being active in Public Private Partnerships that help to shape policy frameworks supporting inclusive and sustainable growth.
The Principal Olam business activities in Nigeria include: Sourcing and procurement, grading, processing and export of agricultural products such as cocoa, cashew, sesame and cotton, Local farming, importation, distribution and milling of rice, Wheat milling with group company Crown Flour Mills, Biscuits, candy and confectionery with OK Foods Ltd, Noodles with Olam Sanyo, Juice and beverages etc.
AFP: – What is Olam plan for smallholder farmers?
OLAM: – Olam has a very wide range of planning to support small holder farmers and beginners in farming in affordable prices regulation, training and products integration supports. Our world-class facilities will provide high-quality, cost-effective products that will help farmers and rural Nigerians to prosper.
AFP: – Is Olam involved in capacity building and training for farmers?
OLAM: – Yes of course, Olam has appointed 22 experience veterinary doctors in Nigeria. Their duty is to go and educate the farmers, free of charge. Helping them improve their overall poultry turn over.
AFP: – How will Olam help the farmers to get access to raw materials?
OLAM: – Nigeria has enough capacity to produce raw materials, the problem is that farmers are not encouraged by their material value, if farmers have the material value, they will increase production value. Olam estimates that its local sourcing of raw materials such as soybeans and corn for its animal feed operations will positively impact more than 300,000 smallholder crop farmers. The company is specifically focusing on boosting the productivity of soybeans in Nigeria.
AFP: – We have found out that most of the industries don’t have research houses and they don’t have laboratories for carrying out test.
OLAM: – At Olam we think ahead and put measures in place. We have a fully equipped laboratory in Kaduna state, with the latest PCR machines. We hope to build laboratory in every state in the country as business progresses’.
AFP: – Sir is the factory/laboratory open to other companies or just to Olam and it costumers?
OLAM: – Our lab is open to all poultry farmers in Kaduna and environs and is strategically located in the heart of Kaduna to allow access for all farmers at a highly subsidized rate.
AFP: – What is the plan of Olam on products availability in the country and plan for other neighbouring countries?OLAM: – We do have plans to showcase our products
to the World once we are able to move from raw material to perfectly finished product.AFP: – what is the vision for Olam in the near future?
OLAM: – Our vision is to help increase the quantity and quality of healthy animal protein for our teaming consumers.
AFP: – What do you think the governments can do to support agriculture?
OLAM: – The government can support farmers majorly in terms of finance, because there is a lot of opportunity in Nigeria in terms of poultry farming, crop farming, and lots of farmers are ready and willing to innovate growth. I will plead with the Nigeria government to sustain Nigeria agriculture.
AFP: – what message do you have for the Nigerian farmers?
OLAM: – Nigerian farmers should focus more on quality; quality vaccines, quality feeds quality chicks and standard management practice. Farmers should also observe high bio security levels both in their farms and their surroundings this will help limit the outbreaks of diseases that is capable of limiting productivity or even wiping out the entirety of their birds.
AFP: – What is the social benefit of the communities Olam is operating in?
OLAM:- At Olam corporate social responsibility is key, a good percentage of our staff are from Kaduna state and environs we have also provided the communities with good borehole, water supply quality, machines for agro, free training on poultry farming, crops farming in the community to help them became better citizens in the country’.. We recognize we are in a strong position to influence how these challenges can be addressed. Although we may impact many of the Goals to a greater or lesser degree, we have identified which have particular resonance and have done it to the benefit to the target communities.
