Thursday 5 January 2012

INTRODUCING SOLUTIONS FOR AGRICULTURE AND FOOD MARKETING - ZILON AGRO SOLUTIONS®



 We humbly write to introduce to you Zilon Agro Solutions®, a foremost private Food and Food items production and marketing  organization corporately charged with ultimate aim of rebranding agriculture and the food sector through timely, effective and efficient production, sales, marketing and distribution of Food and Agricultural commodities in and around Nigeria.

 
Our goal at Zilon Agro Solutions is to salvage the Nigerian Food and Agricultural Sector through efficient provision of products and marketing and Facilitative services towards increased and efficient Agricultural industry and ultimately achieve the state of a Food secured nation.

Our services is majorly is sales, supply, marketing and distribution of Agricultural raw materials to industries and raw and processed food to individual consumers and organizations alike.
 Zilon Agro Solutions is an organization that seeks to bring about the change so desired in the agricultural and food sector of Nigeria. The organization seeks to consolidate the outputs of the small scale farmers and seeks a market for these products. by the size of their outputs and worsened by the poor transport in Nigeria, it becomes much harder for their products to reach the desired consumers.

Zilon  seeks to establish a consumer base by establishing contacts with international companies, local industries, wholesale and retail stores and other consumers for the small-scale farmers output. Our slogan is “food for all”.

African farmers are known to produce the same products each year. It is because of this that countries like Nigeria experience surplus of certain products which results in fall of prices  of these commodities at the same time existence of deficit of other products which end up fetching so much price. It is therefore very important to establish a mechanism that would regulate production and prices. Zilon Agro Solutions thus seeks to establish trade agreements between countries which would allow cross border exchange of essential commodities 



We also provide unparalleled services in the following areas.
·        Commercial Agricultural production
·        Home and Office delivery of Food stuff and other consumables
·        Academic project research writing and Data collation and analysis
·        Organizational and Market  research and Project management
·        Computer services and business registration/incorporation

We thus crave your kind support and alliance in building a formidable food and agricultural sector by filling us with necessary information and patronizing us for effective food sector. Our office is located at Suite 39, Ozi-Oyibo Shopping Complex, Opposite Lagos state Polytechnic Gate, Ikorodu, Lagos, Nigeria. 

You can call us on 234-816-8696375 or 234-815-6066501. Email us at zilonsolutions@gmail.com or visit our website at www.agricsolutions.com. You can also link up with us on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/agrosolutions and on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/agrosolutions.

Looking forward to do business with you.

Segun Oworu
Business Manager

Monday 2 January 2012

ICT AND AGRICULTURE


ICT in agriculture is an emerging field focusing on the enhancement of agricultural and rural development in India. It involves application of innovative ways to use Information & Communication Technologies (ICT) in the rural domain. The advancements in ICT can be utilised for providing accurate, timely, relevant information and services to the farmers, thereby facilitating an environment for more remunerative agriculture. Given the development scenario in Indian Agriculture, ICT movement is still evolving.

However, all the ICT initiatives are not uniform with disparities between regions in the level and quality of telecommunications, information and the effort of individuals, public and private organizations, and differentiated nature of demand of the farmers in different areas. As a result, there have been many successes, failures, lessons learned and experience gained, so far.  While these initiatives are intended to address the needs of the farmers through ICT, their actual usage and their ability to bring significant impact on the farm productivity and socio-economic development of the intended beneficiaries is to be understood.

It is relatively unknown as to whether the ultimate beneficiaries actually use the facilities provided for them meaningfully to meet their needs. The common problems in adoption of ICT in rural segments are ICT illiteracy, availability of relevant and localized contents in their own languages, easy and affordable accessibility and other issues such as awareness and willingness for adoption of new technologies among the rural peoples etc.

One critical aspect in the usage of ICT’s for farmers and their groups, as seen in some of the ICT driven initiatives, is the involvement of human interface at the last mile indicating that there is a human dependency in transmission of Information/Knowledge to farmers.






Thus, there is a need to understand as to how far the ICT initiatives are able to address the farmers need so that better solutions can be developed to address those unmet needs.  .

Tuesday 20 December 2011

Snail Farming Business

In analyzing your Snail Farming Business you must be able to test it to determine it's likelihood of success. All of your ideas must have a demonstrated need, ready market, and the ability to provide a solid return on investment.
  • Is the idea feasible in the marketplace?
  • Is there demand?
  • Can it be done?
  • Are you able to pull together the persons and resources to pull it off before the window of opportunity closes?

Your Snail Farming Business must start with the customer and the market in mind.

And then ask these simple questions
  1. What is the need you fill or problem you solve?
  2. Who are you selling to?
  3. How will you make money?
  4. How will you differentiate your company from what is already out there?
  5. How many competitors do you have and what do they offer that you do not?
  6. How fast is the market growing or shrinking and why?
  7. How much would it cost to get started? (Start-up Costs)
  8. Do you plan to use debt capital or raise investment? If so, how much and what type?
  9. How do you plan your Snail Farming Business will end?
  10. If you take on investment, how much money do you think your investors will get back in return? And when?

Answer these questions and you have your Snail Farming Business Plan.

Executive Summary

The Executive Summary must capture the essence of your proposed Snail Farming Business. Try to keep the summary as brief as possible. Whether you are preparing this proposal for a venture capitalist, banker, or your boss, it is imperative that your summary be of the highest quality. These individuals may be flooded with requests for assistance.
Since the summary is a distillation of your plan, you might want to complete this section after you complete the rest of your Snail Farming Business Plan. Or write the summary first, then create the Snail Farming Business Plan and then go back to the summary, improve it and insure its consistency with the rest of your plan.
Since your objective is to lure the reader to want more information, your summary should have the following elements:
  • It should be concise - you have one or two minutes to tell someone about your business.
  • It should be exciting
  • It should communicate how your business concept is unique
No matter how long you spent developing and honing your business plan, the reader of the plan will only spend five minutes reading it! It’s important to make those five minutes work to your favor. You may have the most meticulous and well-crafted business plan imaginable - in the end, however, the best plan is the one that entices the reader.
Surprisingly, many Snail Farming Business plans neglect to include their formal name, address and principal contact. Please ensure that you leave a number that is attended. If the business plan recipient can’t reach you in one or two attempts, they will move on to the next proposal. Make sure this information is on your proposal - there is a prominent location on the front cover to put this information. Feel free to repeat the information in the Executive Summary.
If you cannot explain your Snail Farming Business in a few sentences then you need a Snail Farming Business Plan!

Type of Business

This section answers the question - What business am I in - a non-trivial question. Deciding what business you are in is probably the most important decision you will have to make. Indicate whether the business is a start-up or an existing business.

Company or Business Summary

Here, you can briefly describe the history of the company. Is this a startup? An expansion of an existing business? A division of a larger business that is launching a new product or service? Is the business a sole proprietorship, partnership, or corporation? If your business is a going concern, briefly describe the company’s historical performance. If the company is introducing a new web site or if the web site is a critical component of the Snail Farming Business then briefly describe the web site and any significant future plans for that site.

Financial Objectives

Clearly state the sales and profitability objectives and the underlying ways that you will meet these objectives. Perhaps a chart from the Business Plan Excel workbook would visually describe your goals. It is within this section that you can summarize sales and profitability objectives for the five year planning period. Financial goals could be cash flow related, described by financial ratios, by growth rates of sales, assets, cash flow, and profits, or by cost and expense relationships.

Management Overview

Perhaps the biggest keys to success of any Snail Farming Business are the people who run it. Be sure to summarize the expertise of the management in this particular business. Since poor management is a key contributor to business failure, describe why the cards are stacked in your favor.

Products and Services

Describe the product or service you are offering and clearly state why the product is unique. If the product is not unique, be sure to explain why it will succeed over existing products.
Name of Your Products - Here you can briefly describe the primary characteristics of this product.

Funds Requested (optional)

If you are writing this proposal to an audience from which you are requesting funds, be specific in your request. Select a number and explain why that amount is needed. Also state whether the money you are raising is in the form of equity or debt. When you send the proposal to organizations, you can save valuable time by understanding which types of investments they make. Some investment companies do not make any equity investments while others specialize in this investment.
If you are seeking debt financing, be prepared to discuss whether collateral is available. If you are seeking an equity investment, be prepared to discuss the percentage ownership position.
Here are some additional questions to consider when writing this section:
  • What is the total amount of funds needed by your Snail Farming Business? Is it needed immediately or over the next two to five years?
  • What part of this financing is being sought from the investors or lending institution that will receive this business plan (including the amount, terms, and any related security agreement)?
  • For equity financing, what percentage of the company are you willing to give up and what is the proposed return on investment and anticipated method of taking out the investor (e.g., buy-back, public offering, sale)?
  • For debt financing, what is your company’s proposed interest rate and repayment schedule?

Use of proceeds (optional)

Be as specific as possible on how the proceeds will be spent. Include a chart or table to describe this if you wish.

Exit (optional)

If you are requesting funds to grow your Snail Farming Business, your investor will want to understand how you are planning your exit strategy. Most investors want to realize a gain over a medium term horizon. Don’t underestimate the time it will take to either take the company public or sell the business. Most investors should be willing to wait for a three-year period before their investment can be realized.

Company Background

The first part of any Snail Farming Business Plan should clearly define the Identification of Market Opportunity. Be prepared to discuss the rate that the market is growing and the demand for the product or service that you are offering.

Business History

Give a brief history of the company’s business to date, when your product or service was introduced, and the key milestones that you have met. Be sure to keep this section brief, since your investor is primarily concerned about the future, not the past. Some of the information you might include in this section could be:
  • The firm’s date of origin.
  • The names of the founders.
  • A summary of the major milestones achieved or the stages of the life cycle through which the firm may have passed.
  • The major episodes or stages of development in the firm’s past.
  • brief description of any significant changes the business has undergone or challenges that the company has faced up to.
  • Other developmental indicators such as sales levels, net worth, market share, assets, and company valuation.
  • Company mission statement.
  • Growth and Financial Objectives
The objectives in your Snail Farming Business Plan can begin with a short list of what you hope to achieve in the next year or so and those significant goals that you would like to achieve in later planning periods. Objectives will vary according to your mission statement and where your company is in the life cycle. For example, a start-up company might want to set a short-term objective of profitability (to be profitable by year-end) or may take a longer-term view and simply look to build a competitive Snail Farming Business model by the end of year one.
State your growth and financial objectives as clearly as possible. You can start with the sales chart for the five-year period and follow that up with the sales table broken down by product line. Then you might want to explain how you plan to keep certain financial metrics and use the Financial Highlights table to clearly portray your goals.
Follow this up with the sales table broken down by product line.
Then you might want to explain how you plan to keep certain financial metrics and use the Financial Highlights table to clearly portray your goals.

Legal Structure and Ownership

Describe how the company is legally organized. This is a decision that is best made in the early stages of the company. The decision to establish your company as a sole proprietorship, a partnership or a corporation that will issue stock is an important one. You may want to consult with an attorney and/or accountant before doing this.

Company Location and Facilities

State where the company conducts its business and what real estate the company owns or leases. Be sure to address the issues regarding your future space requirements and how this might determine your need to expand or move.
Name and/or address of your facility - Here you can briefly describe the facility and location.

Plans for Financing the Snail Farming Business

Investors prefer to see a defined financing proposal which shows the capital needs of the venture and the proposed equity or debt agreement. The financing proposal may refer to the Start-Up Costs that are attached in the appendix if it is a start-up. If the company is a start-up, or an ongoing concern, be sure to detail the use of the proceeds from the financing. What collateral or personal guarantees will be offered for an equity or debt investment?

Financial Plan and Analysis

  • Start-Up Costs - Briefly describe the numbers in the report and on the chart.
  • Financial Highlights - discuss the numbers that might draw attention.
  • 5-Year Income Statement - Describe these numbers.
  • 5-Year Balance Sheet - Point out any key issues from this.
  • Break-Even Analysis - Use the Break-Even analysis to compare your projected monthly sales with the break-even point.
If you plan to succeed then you must complete your Snail Farming Business Plan

Thursday 17 November 2011

THE JOURNEY SO FAR TO BE A GRIOT


The passion that drives an individual stems from the burning desire to make a mark and also to change lives. This was the fire that led me to apply for the 'Hunger and Agriculture Griot' Program. So many lives have tarnished by the impounding food crisis; many still gnash their teeth on a daily basis all because of a problem we could and still can avert.  The food crisis is a major setback for development in our world especially in the developing nations like mine in Africa. A three-course meal a day is now a scare commodity and many only eat what they see without bothering themselves on their nutritional needs.
 
The Griot project is a timely and impactful project at this point in time to bring to light the overhauling effect of the hunger and famine currently lingering in the planet.
  
I have indeed learnt a great deal from the project. At first, I will say that the project accorded the opportunity to know who a Griot is. Moreso, the use of social media which the project taught me has indeed brushed my skills in media relations and information sharing. Mt communication and team working skills are now second to none. All thanks to the Griot project.

Among the aspects tackled so far include
o    Access to food
o    Macro and micronutrients
o    Food Price Volatility
o    Importance of our first 1000 days of life,
o    smallholder agriculture and its economic impact
o    gender approach to agricultural development,
o    climate change present impacts and projection,
o    political choices, and
o    Advocacy skills

Indeed, the World Food program, WFP, and the One campaign have built great minds and capable volunteers who will take the bull by the horn in the fight against hunger and famine in our dear planet. I for one will use the leasons learnt to overturn the challenges facing agriculture and food security in Africa, especially in Nigeria, my coutry of origin.

Thank you WFP, Thank you ONE.

Thursday 10 November 2011

Nigerian Youths to go on Hunger Strike on 11-11-11

On November 11, 2011, Wale Ajani plans to stage a huge campaign by encouraging young people to stay away from food that day. This course of action is going to be taken as a protest showing disapproval with government’s recent plans to remove the fuel subsidy. 

Wale Ajani, the President of the National Youth Council of Nigeria, says the hunger strike is designed to voice our cries against the federal government's intent to remove fuel subsidy. In his words, he said that "If Mr. President canvassed for our votes before getting into office, I don’t see anything wrong in him doing same before implementing a programme of this magnitude. Given that the youth (persons under 35) accounts for 70% of Nigeria’s population, representing about 98 million people. While most are illiterate and live in rural areas, all of us are disadvantaged and disillusioned. We (the youth) are the endangered specie in this equation. Although, we cannot dictate to the FG on how to run this administration, we demand that we dialogue in order for us to have inputs in these new plans."

According to him, the hunger strike is a peaceful protest the Nigerian youths are engaging in to show their displeasure and shock over the planned demonic removal of fuel subsidy. Nigerian Youths are saying they are already hungry and going on a hunger strike to protest is no issue if that will help solve their problems. It is painful to imagine the untold hardship the fuel subsidy removal will cause Nigerians. Nigerian youths are standing together on the 11th day of the 11th month of year 2011 to say NO to Fuel Subsidy Removal. We hope you will join us at this history-making event. This is our own ‘Occupy Wall Street’.

The event which is powered by National Youth Council of Nigeria, Y-Count Campaign, Youth Hub Africa, Labour Civil Society Movement, Nigerian Youth League and 50 other youth organizations across the nation is set to create awareness on the position of the Nigerian youths on the removal of fuel subsidy

Friday 4 November 2011

Agriculture; The Saviour of Poverty in Nigeria

Experts have said that the portrayal of agriculture as a profession for the poor is a major reason why poverty is prevalent in Nigeria. According to them, there should be a paradigm shift as the success of any poverty alleviation programme is hinged on the ability of farmers to get commensurate returns for their effort.

Despite the potential of agriculture as a means of unlocking the wealth of the land for the benefit of the people, government has failed to give the sector adequate financial support to sustain it. The agricultural sector has encountered a lot of problem over the last few years, but we still cannot deny the fact that the agricultural sector would continue to remain the mainstream of the nation's economy in view of its sustainability.

The Nigerian economy relied on agriculture up until the 1970s, when the oil boom created a diversion. He wondered why the government has refused to give agriculture the attention it deserves, given its role in the economy.

The funding system from the budgeting allocations until recently was only five percent of the national budget. There is no way a sector, which employs 70 percent of Nigeria's workforce, a sector which is responsible for 40 percent of the gross domestic product, and a sector in which two-third of its people live in rural areas, can be allocated only five percent of the budget.

Government policies are not consistent because they set up policies to favour one part of the sector, like the issues between the maize and poultry farmer. If farmers meet in advance and decide what their problems are, they would now collectively go to government. Government can make a long term policy for five or six years to solve the farmers' issues.

I am optimistic that the sector would begin to grow again, as government has increased the sector budget allocation. It would appear that government is now allocating more money to the sector because in the last two years, the agriculture sector has been getting about 10 percent of the national budget. I expect a minimum of 15-20 percent of the budget in the future,

About Me

Zilon Agro Solutions is an organization carved out to salvage the food and agricultural sector in Nigeria through the use of effective and efficient marketing tools in sales, marketing, distribution and production of food and food items. The brain behind Zilon Agro Solutions is Segun Oworu. A leader born to do exploits packed with Innovative and Creative thoughts and ideas. An implementor and a change agent who believes in Agriculture and pursues it to a logical end. He is also the Head, Research and Development, Center for Sustainable Development in Agriculture, CSDA.