Bashir Salami: How Livestock Ministry Can Optimise Its Potential
The Chief Executive Officer, Farm Zone, Bashir Salami tells Oluchi Chibuzor how the Ministry of Livestock can partner local and foreign professionals in the sector to provide expertise, reduce red tape bureaucracy associated mostly with government agencies and optimise its potentials… Excerpts:
Can you tell us about the journey that led you to establishing Farm Zone and the vision behind the brand?
I
always wanted to become an entrepreneur and build sustainable businesses. As a young banker, I quickly understood the basics of business and household spending patterns, which highlighted food, shelter and clothing sectors as the main drivers. Particularly during both Muslim and Christian festivals during mid-year and end of year, I observed that organisations and individuals focus on buying livestock for consumption or gifting was at its highest. This led me to explore my inner passion for breeding and trading livestock that birthed the Farm Zone brand. In 2012, we started with about 10 sheep and sold to family and friends with a vision of delivering livestock to every nook and cranny in Nigeria, all year round. We have since achieved this feat and in the last couple of years we ventured into other areas such as processing and advisory services.
With over a decade of experience in the livestock industry, what key challenges have you identified, and how does Farm Zone address them?
Players involved in livestock breeding and processing face lack of adequate funding for the provision of infrastructure and inputs necessary for their business, education and training of players in modern methods to meet the changing demands of the consumers, and inability to connect buyers and other players in need of their products. Farm Zone has developed a network of livestock breeders and traders across the country which has largely improved their access to markets / clients in need of their products. We deliver livestock nationwide and work with local farms and markets in the 36 states to meet the demands of our customers. We have also developed a curriculum for a livestock academy and are working with governments and agencies to train young people in modern methods of livestock handling and processing. With regards to funding, our advisory arm helps farmers prepare the required documentation that give access to funds set aside for SMEs by a few private and government agencies, provided the applicants meet the requirements.
Livestock supply chains in Nigeria are often criticised for inefficiency and high costs. What innovations or strategies has Farm Zone introduced to streamline these processes?
Some of the issues associated with high costs are a result of larger economic issues that stem from inflation and insecurity around the country. Farmers are not able to provide cheap feed anymore due to the security crisis, climate change and natural disasters such as flooding. This has resulted feed scarcity in a sector that the livestock numbers are growing daily. Transportation is another challenge the business faces as the main mode of transportation of livestock around the country is by road. As you may be aware, the road infrastructure is poor, resulting in accidents that cause death or injuries to livestock in transit. Another challenge with transportation is the high cost of fueling the vehicles, that in turn increase the cost of the livestock. The high cost of living in the country has also contributed to the increased cost of operations as employees are demanding better pay and expenses keep increasing on farm or factory maintenance. We are developing a platform that leverages technology that enables farmers connect with livestock breeders and traders to provide inputs for livestock feed that may be available on the farms after harvesting crops. The introduction of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) by the Federal Government is expected to bring down the cost of transportation. We are advising and educating livestock transporters on the benefits of converting to CNG that will help reduce the cost of fueling for their operations.
What is your assessment of the livestock industry’s current state in Nigeria, and how can the sector contribute more to the nation’s economy?
Nigeria’s livestock industry has huge potential as our livestock are in high demand across the world. Our animals are largely grass-fed and our meat is lean with less fat as compared to other livestock in many other parts of the world. Currently, we do not produce enough for our consumption, and our major supply lines come from Niger, Chad, and Cameroun. This is largely due to our high population which has focused more on other services and paid less attention to farming. The development of the livestock industry will improve activities of the real sector by encouraging more small holder farmers, local processors, and other players providing inputs such as feed, medication, and farm equipment. On the macro-outlook, establishment of industrial meat plants will focus on processing of produced livestock by the larger population for export to countries in Europe and the Middle East. The country will stimulate its micro and macro economy by building more farm entrepreneurs and creating jobs that in turn generate income for local players, while also earning foreign income from major exports.
The World Bank recently partnered with the Nigerian government on the Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Project (L-PRES) initiative to boost productivity in the livestock industry. What is your assessment of this initiative? Based on your experience in the industry, what strategies would you recommend to ensure the intervention is fully utilised to achieve its objectives?
The L-PRES fund focuses on major areas of livestock development such as breeding programs, meat processing, dairy production, and feed and nutritional development, processing of by products from livestock, and training of key players in the sectors. The creation of the Ministry of Livestock by the Federal Government is a laudable initiative and an intentional move to develop the potential of the Livestock sector. With this new development, there will be more coordinated efforts between the World Bank and the Government to ensure States and local organizations access funding under the L-PRES Program, with better monitoring and evaluation. We are of the opinion that the Ministry of Livestock partners with local and foreign professionals involved in livestock management to ensure interested players in the livestock industry can easily access the L-PRES funds. The management consultants will assist in monitoring and evaluation of projects and also run nationwide educational programs that help applicants optimize the fund and achieve maximum benefit and profitability.
These consultants will provide expertise and reduce the red tape bureaucracy majorly associated with government agencies by advising the Government on impactful projects and directly interfacing with livestock players while the government performs oversight and regulatory functions for the sector. We believe this will go a long way in reaching livestock players directly as government will not be saddled with operational field work and the Ministry of Livestock and state representatives can focus on more strategic initiatives to bolster the sector.
What sets Farm Zone apart from others in the sector?
Our brand has focused on service and trust as the most important values in our business strategy. This has pushed us to go beyond limits in satisfying our wide customer base. We pride ourselves on customer satisfaction and almost never turn down any request for the supply of livestock in any part of the country. Our extensive network of livestock breeders and traders, years of cultivated relationships with livestock markets and farms across the country and a national spread of knowledgeable employees of different cadre have been the lifeline of our business which has grown our customer base for over a decade. Wherever there is a challenge, be it security or high cost of operations we see an opportunity to make a statement by ensuring we deliver for the customer. We keep to our word, walk our talk and ensure that what you see is what you get.
Your model includes unique offerings like free storage, replacement policies, and payment plans. What inspired these customer-focused innovations?
Over the years we realised that consumer patterns had changed and more customers particularly during festive seasons needed additional services beyond just purchasing livestock. We quickly identified the challenges customers face during this period which included lack of space to keep purchased products in their homes before the festive dates, ability to feed and manage livestock while they were busy with their normal day to day business, weight loss and sometimes death of the product due to illness or natural occurrences, and financial constraints in making complete upfront payments during a time when expenditure is high as a result of many other commitments. Our solution was to provide a safe space for our customers during the festive periods where they do not have to worry about all these challenges. The customers are not charged any fees, provided they have purchased from Farm Zone for at least one month prior to the festivities. In the event of illness or death of the livestock, we inform the client and replace the livestock. This ultimately means that we are responsible for the livestock until delivery to the customer. In addition, we developed a payment plan for customers and only release the livestock to them upon completing payment. In an event they do not complete payment, we make a refund and do not release the product. Again, service and trust are values we hold in high esteem.
Farm Zone caters to a diverse clientele, including corporate clients and Nigerians abroad. How do you manage to meet such varied demands effectively?
Our employees are trained to be professional in handling all categories of clients. Our marketing, sourcing, logistics, and financial departments work in a synergized manner to handle customer requests. Leadership and process ownership are critical to the success of our operations, as it enables us all learn and adapt to the demands of our evolving customer base. For each client segment a different approach is taken to serve the customer. Our Corporate clients require documentation, accountability, product standardisation and sometimes ask us to work with other partners serving their organizations in delivering livestock. With regards to our individual clients, the high net worth individuals mostly require exotic livestock with prestigious service; while our other retail clients focus more on competitive and discounted pricing, payment plans and ease of purchase.
As Farm Zone expands its reach, are there any new services, partnerships, or markets you plan to explore in the coming years?
Farm Zone in the last six months has met with and invited foreign partners to invest in the meat processing supply value chain for livestock. These partners will also train our citizens on local and international standards of meat processing and pass on technology to be able develop several sustainable Integrated Livestock farms. We see huge potential for Nigeria to earn foreign exchange through meat exports and also improve local consumption and food hygiene and safety.
