My name is Adewole Adedamola, a graduate of microbiology. I am 22 and currently undergoing my agricultural incubation programme at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture under the Youth Agripreneurs programme.
I am a young Nigerian who is interested in the nutrition of and job creation for Africans especially Young Africans, starting with my country.
Food security is a major problem in Nigeria and I am very interested in growing vegetables since there is a limited supply of fresh vegetables in the market.
Why Vegetables?
Growing vegetables is a very important way of putting an end to malnutrition in Africa. Consuming vegetables is part of an overall healthy diet because it reduces the risk of diseases.
Vegetables are very rich and cheap source of vitamin A (for good eyes and skin), Vitamin C (healing of wounds), valuable roughage that aids digestion, Potassium (reduction of blood pressure), folic acid (formation of red blood cells), mineral salts and other chemicals.
Vegetables are low in fat and have no cholesterol (except sauces, seasonings or spices).
Growing vegetables provides more yields which thus improve food productivity. They are easy to grow, have short life span and can be grown all through the year.
Growing vegetables will employ youths from the point of sowing to marketing. Growing vegetables will provide regular source of income, since the yield per acre is high thus, eliminating unemployment.
Why support growing vegetables?
Vegetables are very fragile, and thus, perishable goods. The way vegetables are sold by local sellers can discourage the consumption of vegetables. Many times, the vegetables sold have reduced nutritional quality due to lack of storage facilities and this affects the palatability.
To solve this problem, I have found a need to improve the way vegetables are cultivated and sold.
Good agronomical practices (pest- and disease-free vegetables), immediate transportation of harvested vegetables, and proper storage of vegetables in cold storage barn (which will keep it fresh for a long period of time).
For a start, I am currently under an incubation programme, where vegetable production is one of the enterprises I have learnt.
This way, fresh vegetables will be available for sale and consumption, it will generate income for me, it will provide employment for five people for a start including myself, and over time, as the business grows, job creation will be expanded.
Monitoring and evaluation system will be used to guide the decision making process. The growth of the business (productivity and employability which are the goals of the enterprise) will also serve as measures.
How will I use the USD 5,000?
- Cold storage barn USD 2,600
- Land lease- 1ha/1yr USD 15
- Land clearing/1yr USD 50
- Cost of Inputs/1yr USD 1,000
- Transportation and Logistics/2 months USD 50
- Management practices/2months USD 200
- Labor (5)/2months USD 1,000
- Electricity/2months USD 85
After two months, fresh vegetables will be harvested and sold to continue the cycle of vegetable production.
However, cost of transportation and logistics, management practices, labour and electricity will be factored from the profit from the first harvest for the subsequent two months
Help me to nourish Nigerians, generate income and employ youths through vegetable production.
Blogpost and picture submitted by Adewole Adedamola (Nigeria): mailto:adewole_damola[at]yahoo.com
The content, structure and grammar are at the discretion of the author only.
This post is published as proposal #426 of “YAP” – our “Youth Agripreneur Project”.
The first selection of the winners will be based on the number of comments, likes and views each proposal gets.
As a reader, you can support this speaker’s entry:
- Leave a comment (question, suggestion,..) on this project in the comment field at the bottom of this page
- Support the post by clicking the “Like” button below (only possible for those with a com account)
- Spread this post via your social media channels, using the hashtag: #GCARD3
Have a look at the other “YAP” proposals too!
As a donor, support young agripreneurs and sponsor this unique project.
Check out the side column for our current sponsors. “YAP” is part of the #GCARD3 process, the third Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development.
blog.gfar.net 
Such an insightful piece. Best of luck
Thank you for this post! It’s good to see youths who are working towards a better Nigeria.
Nice write-up, I wish you success in your research work and pray your dreams in this field do come to a reality. God bless you.
I wish you the very best Damola.
How long can the vegetable be stored before it losses it nutrient
This is brilliant
Very thoughtful. God bless you.
good piece
I appreciate your perception and I really wish you good luck.
What a great idea. Keep it up!
Very nice! Well done
Brilliant idea..hardly would one find Nigerian youths who are as smart as to figure out issues like this that affect the lives of Nigerians and one that has decided to make it a task to try to solve such problem as best as he can..all the best!!
It’s all about what you can do for your country.. Nice piece.
Weldone Damola! This is very beautiful and insightful. We do need lots of fresh vegetables and this is a great way to make sure that we have better vegetables that can stay longer. Good luck, I hope you win this!
Amazing paperwork. This is good!
Well thought and put together!
Good to see young people think out of the box and come up with healthy ideas!
All the best.
This is beautiful. Our future as a healthy nation depends on such schemes.
Pls purse this plan to actualization. It’s an excellent one
This is a brilliant write up.all the best
Interesting pitch, its amazing how you made me see agriculture in a new light, i mean for once am not bored reading an agricultural piece….u just sold me this, i know you’ll get sponsored so congrats in advance
Interesting pitch, its amazing how you made me see agriculture in a new, i mean for once am not bored reading an agricultural piece….u just sold me this, i know you’ll get sponsored so congrats in advance
Wonderful idea, this kind of passion and dedication is all she needs to birth a success in this. She should be encouraged….
Insightful, more of Adedamola is what Nigeria needs
This kind of idea will move our nation forward.
Awesome!!
This is good. We need more youth who can use their initiatives in a profitable way. Good luck.
Wow this is nice, to have a Nigeria graduate who is a lady interested in agriculture, clearly what a man can do a woman can do better. Please specify the vegetables you intend cultivating? Lovely proposal, I wish you all the best in your endeavour the stars is ur starting point. Goodluck Damola
Wow! Nice idea and write up. This is what this country needs. Young insight-filled youths.👏👏👏👏👏. Best of luck dear
Wow. Nice write up and idea. This is what this country needs. Youths with insight-filled minds. 👏👏. Good luck dear
Nice
Good Plan set out. I support your vision and mission. All the best
Very informative piece, the timing couldn’t have been better
Agriculture is the next step to restore Nigeria to its lost glory. Good project
Dis is amazing..All d best on dis.
Very informative piece, perfect timing
Brilliant. Welldone
good ideaí ½í±
wonderful idea
Very Encouraging and innovative. Thumbs up
Such a great effort to encourage the consumption of vegetables. I believe the cultivation of vegtables with steady commitments is a great medium of job opportunites for youths in our country. Best wishes!!!
Congratulations so far. Have you figured out which market you are going for? And what vegetables you’ll be starting with. I’m also very interested in the breakdown of cost. Where are you getting the land for 1 ha a yr? Keep up the good work.
Dear Olise,
I appreciate your comment and concern. I’m starting with fluted pumpkin(ugu).it is very nutritious(erythropoietic- produces red blood cells,therapy for high level of cholesterol in the blood, anti-diabetic and many others. You can find the proposal ,the benefits of consuming vegetables). That price, is the price we acquire land for lease in villages. Vegetables have high demand and the market is everywhere.
Brilliant and well put 2geda
Beautiful soul with a beautiful insight. From day 1 I knew you were a success.
Shine on love.👍
Nice piece! … very insightful!
Wow! An amazing idea. Hmmmm…Vegetables? That’s definitely a good area to focus on. I’ll give you that. #ThumbsUp
Just what I needed if vegetables were as cheap and plenty in the market it will encourage us to buy more and spend less on junks and it will avoid me especially from gaining new weight lol nice article I love it
Impressive! I commend your passion & dedication to this.
Useful insights
This is a beautiful plan and it’s inspiring to see how a Nigerian youth is encouraging job development in Nigeria. I support this idea of yours and I wish you all the best. Gold luck
Just what Nigeria needs now! More of agriculture! Very nice damola. All the best.
Wow! This is really good. Dis is a great innovation. Wish u d best! Success
Wow…. This guy should be given a chance cos only fee youth has this mindset …. Goodluck bro
Damola deserves to win. Not only is it inspiring that she’s all for agriculture, it’s wonderful that she’s wrong to explore an unconventional aspect that will yield social benefit and carve a niche that may turn out to be the first of its kind
Great project and it would also be an advancement towards improving the health of the larger population.
Nice one, better Nigeria is our agenda
This is very impressive. Thumbs up
This is a very informative and educative piece, I wish you the best in all your endeavors.
This is very impressive, thumbs up.
Agricultural improvement, National development, healthy eating, employability all in one plan. This is pure excellence. I’m proud of u!
Adedamola this is brilliant! I wish you all the best! Good luck.
Wonderful piece! Very enlightening and intelligent. I hope you get the $5,000. All the best!
This is a very brilliant one. Thumbs up dear.
Nice
Wish u well dear. This is such a good project. I hope u get it
A very brilliant idea. Weldone adedamola.
Nice spoken dear, Congratulations on your innovation about vegetables , Such a great effort encouragement for consumption of vegetables. You have done well. May God bless you
Nigerians should encourage pple lik adedamola….. Talent in action…. Yap proposal #426… Team adedamola!!!
Nyc job… Wish u luck… Team#426, adedamola
Great one.. Best of luck
Nice spoken dear, Congratulations on your innovation about vegetables, Such a great effort to encourage the consumption of vegetables in our nation, well done, may God bless
Nice 1 Ademola,hope Audu ogbe sees this? God bless ur hustle
This is a good one. It’s good to see a young person thinking positive. We need more of you in Nigeria.
This is truly phenomenal I’m positive it’s a success
Brilliant idea, agriculture is the way forward
Great idea… nice work… wish u success. z
Brilliant piece! Nigeria needs more proactive and innovative youths like you. Keep it up Damola
Thank you all for your amazing support even though, I got this close to the due date. Yes, Olise, it’s all marked out. The required space the blog’s administration will not have permitted the description of the business. We get land for lease at that price in villages. Sometimes, even for free ( vegetables add nutrients to the soil, so for them it is another advantage) I’m starting with ugu(pumpkin).The market is everywhere. It sells everywhere. My target market is Bodija, ibadan. Vegetables have high demand and consumed daily by many Nigerians. Pls, continue to support job creation and food security to eradicate poverty! I am more interested in these and that is why I am using these two as the major yardstick for the monitoring and evaluation of this project and not income generation for myself. Pls, let us make it happen. We don’t need to wait for the government before we build a better Nigeria. Thank you!
Nice
Well done Damola. What a great innovation. I wish u good-luck!!!
This is a nice idea that will help boost our nation economy
Interesting
Great job Damola! Wish you luck
Bravo Damola,
Have always been self motivated as a livestock farmer.. but really got inspired By your idea which is an eye opener to another line of business..All the very best..
Great project Damola! I hope you win! Best Wishes
You didnt study agriculture in school but your interest in it is quite amazing its also a wake up call for everyone that studied agriculture. Nice write up on the importance of vegetable best of luck
Great work, fantastic idea
Great stuff. It’s really nice seeing such a work done with good innovative mind. Especially one that’s got to do with what will be of immense benefit to s nation like Nigeria. It encompasses health, wealth of individualsand stability of the economy as a whole. Works done with such diligence needs to be acknowledged. Keep it up dear.
Wow! Awesome idea!
Wonderful innovation..
Well done,Damilola.
Healthy eating is a practice most nigerians would benefit from imbibing.
This is totally amazing and I honestly agree with the ideology behind it because I am a vegetable lover. Goodluck Damola, I am proud of you✊👏
Thank you for this thoughts Adedamola, you have done well and i wish you all the best. To GFAR; i hope you see the future of the average Nigerian Youth in this young minds vision and understand also that our dream needs to be brought to reality. Thank you for this opportunity
Wow,damola,realy I am impressed,you know vegetables is one thing people ignore and don’t take important, am happy someone other than me can see a huge need for it,its a good project dear, you have my support!
Awesome!!!
Wow! Damola, this is awesome and well documented. Wishing you all the best on this.
Wooow,this is really a good one damola,veggetable is one thing people ignore and consider less important, the fact that you want to deal in it inspires me,at least someone,other than me can see a unique need for vegetables, you have my support dear
Awesome!!!
Damola for the win… I very much support this idea all the best…
Very Insightful!! Well done Damola
beautiful write up.
Great innovation… Good work. I wish you all the best Damola.
Best piece have seen so far
You always prove to people that genius you’ve always been!
Thanks for the enlightenment!
Very Innovative. All the best Damola
Great innovation and also a great opportunity for our failing economy.
This is brilliant especially with the economy about to diversify. Excellent work Damola!!!
Such a great Idea…welldone
This is a brilliant idea. What type of vegetables do you plan to grow?
Good luck dear
Awesome!! We really need this
Good work, persistence is key&I love dis innovative thought of urs.wish U d very best.
Good thinking Demola. The vegetables will ready for harvest in two months. How much do you intend to produce in two months to ensure enough profit to cover costs?
Thanks for your comment LA. it is about upscaling the business, before the end of the year, I would be close to making all the money back while re-investing for expansion.
This is good. keep it up Damola.
Very interesting idea. Growing vegetables is quick money because of the short life cycle. Please go for it.
A good idea,we really need it,how do you intend to market and package it
A good idea,wish you best of luck
Best of luck with this endeavor. Great idea!
Well said Damola this is very innovative,thank you for enlightening us especially we youths…all the best girl!
This idea has promise. I believe you can make it work.
Impressive
Vegetables are so important for a balanced diet especially improving intake of vitamins and minerals. Good luck with your project – you are on the right track
Great idea. All the best
Nice idea. But I will like to know where your market will be. Good luck with this
It’s good to hear that a Ngerian youth is taking up agriculture this way, doing research on how to make it more nutritious through an improvised mechanism. It’s a very beautiful and inspiring one, which gives me the believe that their is hope for our country. I wish you the very best in this and pray that it will open up bigger things for you. I’ll like to drop this here for us the readers, let’s make this a wake up call for us to take charge of Nigeria’s future (which is us) by venturing into things that will promote our country i.e. our mineral resources, our talents, knowledge and any other thing we can think of so we can have a better country. I can assure us that this is very achievable, we just need to do a lot of research on some things – the market, our resources, our history so we can figure out the things Nigeria was living on before we ventured into the almighty petroleum, distinctive techniques we can imbibe in achieving our aim and many others and our country can and will definitely smile again by God’s grace. God bless us.
Great idea Dami. Keep it up. Wish you God’s best!
Brilliant work. Quality write-up. Good one
Brilliant work. Quality write up. Very good read
Precise and insightful. Goodluck
Damola, I must confess that this is an innovative Agricultural idea coming from a Microbiologist. I am more interested on how you intend to achieve the objective of cold storage of the vegetables, while ensuring that they are in constant supply all year round, considering our epileptic power supply in Nigeria. It would be a huge step in the right direction for Nigerians.
I wish you all the best!