Afere Lawrence Is Using Organic Farming To Create Jobs In Rural Nigeria

On November 17, 2006, Lawrence Afere was studying at his University’s library when he came across a report released by the minister of education. It revealed surprising statistics about unemployment and its effects on Nigeria’s rural and semi-urban population.

This singular moment is what eventually led Lawrence to create Springboard – a social enterprise that uses organic farming and healthy food production to create job opportunities for rural and semi-urban youth in Nigeria.

Training young Nigerians to start their own organic farms

Since its launch in 2008, Springboard has been engaging young Nigerians in personal and social change through sustainable agriculture. Each year, they train about 50 young people to start their own organic farms.

On the Springboard farms, they currently grow plantain, banana, pineapple, pawpaw and maize. In order to generate more revenue and jobs, they also convert the plantain grown on their farms into chips.

Speaking about how that moment in the library changed the course of his life, Lawrence said:

“I decided that rather than just getting a job, let me help young Nigerians get jobs – and in the process get something going for myself.”

Lawrence envisions a Nigeria where everyone has access to local, healthy and affordable food; communities feel connected to the land and each other; and where rural and semi-urban youth are active leaders in the area of organic farming and healthy food production.

You can learn more about Springboard on their website.

Farming is a business

According to Afere, one of the initiative’s goals is to change the perception of farming amongst Nigerian youth. Many do not view it as an attractive career path.

“Especially the young people in the rural and semi-urban areas; they have seen their parents over the years suffer as farmers… They are so poor and the middle men make more money than they do. And so these young people are discouraged. This is one reason why they want to leave rural areas and go to the cities in search of jobs.”

To slow this trend Afere hopes to make agriculture “fashionable” among youth. “We help them to see there is a good market for produce, and that you can actually become wealthy cultivating the land.”

The initiative also teaches business skills, such as how agri-preneurs can get produce to market without using middle men that cut into profits.

“Farming should be a business. It should not be seen as something only poor people do. You can build your farm and it can become a great business. So we teach farming as a business. And if you run your business well, it can help you earn a good income. So that’s what we help them to see: they are a farmer and they are an entrepreneur.”

Big changes start small

According to Afere, he has seen some positive changes over the past two years as more young people begin to see benefits in agriculture.

“I tell you, every day on social media you see a lot of young people putting their pictures on Facebook and telling their friends that they are farmers right now. So young people are coming to realise one way for Nigeria to grow out of this huge unemployment is by going back to our past love, which was agriculture.”

He advises others who want to pursue entrepreneurship to be aware of the risks, and make sure they are driven by something greater than a big pay-cheque.

“Regardless of how much you are being paid, it  doesn’t compare with the reward that comes when you follow the path of entrepreneurship, because entrepreneurs change the world. So ask yourself – do you want to transform this world?

“For me I want to do a very big thing: I want to change this world. And I have started doing that in my small community here in Nigeria.”