Low-cost agribusiness ideas: What are the best agribusiness ideas for rural areas? What are the best agri-allied business opportunities for big towns and megacities? What business can one start in the agriculture industry and succeed in?

This article will put these questions to rest.

Did you know that agribusinesses are the most lucrative businesses in the world? Apart from low-cost start-ups and operations, agribusinesses turn out a huge profit of up to 100%. With the increase in unemployment, young people are now embracing agriculture which was erstwhile considered a dirty business reserved only for the poor.

Agribusiness can be started with little or no training. You do not need a special degree to start though you may need to spend some time learning about the intricacies of the business. This article will highlight in detail, some lucrative business ideas and opportunities you can engage in towns or villages.

Low-cost agribusiness ideas

1. Urban Agriculture or Crop Cultivation

Low cost agribusiness ideas: Urban agriculture is the practice of cultivating, processing and distributing food in, or around, a village, town or city. Urban agriculture in addition can also involve animal husbandry, aquaculture, agro-forestry and horticulture.

Urban agriculture contributes to food security and food safety in two ways: First, it increases the amount of food available to people living in cities and second, it allows fresh vegetables and fruits and meat products to be made available to urban consumers. Urban and peri-urban agriculture are generally seen as sustainable agriculture.

2. Rabbit farming

A backyard can serve as a good source of additional income, food and employment. Rabbits do not compete with humans for food, as kitchen leftovers, cut grasses and formulated or compounded feed can sustain them.

Rabbit keeping does not require much capital for investment and maintenance. As little space is needed, most rabbits can be kept in the backyard or in makeshift sheds.

3. Selling Fresh Fruits

Low-cost agribusiness ideas:  With a little professionalism and good public appearance or hygiene, you can make money in this business because a lot of people love to eat fresh fruits.

Fresh juice is also marketable with a lot of people preferring natural, healthy products compared to manufactured juices and soda.

4. Grocery Service

Low-cost agribusiness ideas:  In today’s busy and sophisticated world, convenience has become a real business opportunity. Rice, beans, yams, plantain, potatoes, onions, pepper, oil etc can be bought in bulk, cleaned and packaged in specific portions and sold directly to end users.

Many people who are unable to find time to shop will be relieved to know that they can just make a phone call and the groceries are delivered. If you can get them to pay up-front, then you are better up with cash flow.

5. Fish Farming

Over the years, quite a few people have made fortunes from fish farming, as the population is swelling and protein needs are far outstripping the available supply. Food is always a winner in any country or environment if done well. Fish farming is a sure bet business if you put the right structures in place. More and more people are turning to fish for its low-cholesterol protein.

6. Herbs, Flowers Framing and Gardening

Walking through a grocery store, a herb store, a health food store and even in gardening sections of home centres, you will find herbs in their dry forms to be used by consumers. Using the right equipment in your home garage or shed or by building a greenhouse, you can start and raise both herbs and plants to resell to larger outlets and to the consumer as well.

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Plants are the basis for all landscapes, homes, gardens and even for brightening offices. You will pay pennies for packets of seeds and make way more when selling starter plants. The more space you have, the better you are going to do.

If you really have the space in your landscape and outdoor garden, creating gardens where you will grow plants and drying them out will add so much to your inventory and you can make great amounts of money selling dried flowers to retailers, wholesalers and even flower shops themselves.

7. Livestock Feed Production

Low-cost agribusiness ideas:  A lot of people are going into livestock farming like fish farming, pig farming, poultry farming and a whole lot of others. As a smart investor, you can start producing feed for people to feed their animals.

However, you must ensure that you carry out a lot of research and come up with a product that is rich in nutrients and would promote quick growth and good health of the animals.

To start a livestock feed production business, you will need a grinding machine, mixing machine, weighing machine, customized packing bags and raw materials for production. Raw materials might cost you about Kes. 100,000 while the machines can be purchased for about Kes. 1 million.

The production process is not so difficult. The ingredients required are mainly maize, soya beans, fish bone, sorghum, groundnut, blood meal, wheat, rice shaft, additives etc. All these can be sourced from the market, any animal consult outlet, or any agricultural product shop around.

8. Poultry Farming

Low-cost agribusiness ideas:  Technology has enabled many to operate profitable poultry, yet make it free of odour that a neighbour next door will not know you operate a poultry farm. This is a business you can start from one room, car park or from that abandoned property near you with 50 to 500 birds, depending on the cash at hand.

9. Mushroom Farming

Mushrooms are rich in vitamins, protein and minerals; they are favoured over meat or even fish by some people, considering their nutritional value and superior health implications. There are two main broad categories of mushrooms; the edible and the non-edible (which is poisonous).

The start-up requirements are a mushroom shed or house, sawdust, polythene bags, spawns/mushroom seeds, Urea/nitrogen fertilizer, lime, water, a ceiling machine, a weighing scale, extra hands, and a refrigerator.

Mushroom farming is similar to quail egg farming and not many people know that this business brings up to 500% profit. If you have a clean space in your home, you can start your own mushroom farming business today and start selling mushrooms to hotels, exporters and pharmaceutical companies in the next 21 days.

10. Frozen Chicken Production

Many Kenyans have come to depend on imported frozen chicken for quite a while now and this is to the detriment of the local poultry industry and the subsequent health implication because of the long voyage from Europe or wherever, the imported product are usually preserved with chemicals, some of which are said to be injurious to health.

A lot of people prefer not to go through the stress of slaughtering and preparing live birds because frozen chicken can easily be stored and used at will, thereby saving time; and many people think it is cheap too.

Start-up requirements are space, knives, tables, basins, heat source, stove heater, soap, hand towel, extra hands, freezer and generator. You need to go directly to the chicken farms to source for your live birds cheaply You can also position yourself to supply small hotels, restaurants and eateries.

11. Grasscutter Farming

It breeds successfully in captivity and is capable of reproducing twice a year with litter size varying from two to six. They are primarily vegetarian and can be raised to maturity entirely on fresh grasses. They prefer plants with high moisture content and soluble carbohydrate. Field studies reveal that they do not burrow so they may be caged or reared in a fenced pen on the ground.

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Grasscutter is worth considering for use in husbandry in humid forest where poor grazing and harsh environment limits the performance of conventional livestock. Ranching of grass cutters as a backyard mini-livestock would, therefore, improve a lot of the peasant farmers, provide an alternative source of animal protein, and create job opportunities for urban dwellers.

12. Flour Milling

You can start your own flour milling business and start converting grains like wheat, corns, millet and cassava into flour. Wheat flour is a product that is in high demand in the baking industry.

Flour milling is something you can do from the convenience of your home if you have a small space. If you do not have space within your home, you can rent a small space and start from there and as your business expands, you can opt for a larger space.

You can easily get wheat, corn, millet or cassava from local farmers, then learn how to process it and make it into flour. Some of the procedures include cleaning, grading and separation, tempering and then grinding the wheat.

13. Jam/ Peanut Butter Production

As a young entrepreneur, you can start making your own jam and/or peanut butter and supply them to supermarkets and food stores around you. There is a huge demand for natural products now as more people are now learning how to eat healthily and avoid artificial and overly preserved foods and drinks.

14. Groundnut Processing

Groundnut is a popular snack that is loved by very many people. Take a trip to a nearby supermarket and you will see bottled groundnuts branded and packaged in a fanciful way. Very little effort goes into frying and packaging those groundnuts for sale and distribution.

With as little as Kes 20,000, you can start your own groundnut processing and packaging business. And of course, you can do it from the comfort of your home. If you can start your own groundnut farm, you will get access to groundnuts cheaply but if you don’t have a space for groundnut farming, you can still get cheap raw groundnuts from farm markets.

15. Cashew Nut Processing

Cashew nut processing and packaging is similar to groundnut processing, the only difference is that cashew nuts are more expensive and difficult to get than groundnuts. Raw cashew nuts are readily available in local village farms and markets where you can purchase them, bring them home for processing and packaging and sell them at a good profit.

16. Soya Beans Processing

Soya bean milk is a healthy and nutritious drink that is in high demand by health-conscious people. You can also start a soya bean milk processing business for a little capital.

17. Agricultural Equipment Leasing

With the increase in people going into the agricultural business, you can make money from hiring out equipment like tractors, ploughs, sprayers, harvesters and irrigation machines to the farmer.

18. Spices Production

Spices used to make food like curry, thyme, and cayenne pepper to mention a few are usually in high demand at food stores and supermarkets. Take advantage of that by processing and packaging your own spices.

19. Dairy products

You can start making your own dairy products like yoghurt, cheese and butter for sale.

20. Poultry and meat production and packaging

There is the general belief that manually packaged meat or poultry are not too hygienic because of the way they might have been handled. A lot of people are now making good money from machine-processed and packaged meat.

21. Vegetable Farming

Vegetables are one of the most highly consumed food items in the world. Starting a vegetable farm is one of the simplest and easiest businesses in the world with a high-profit margin of up to 500%.

22. Agricultural Brokerage and Consulting

You can start a business in agricultural brokerage by linking sellers of agricultural produce with buyers and get commission for it. You can also become a consultant and offer expert advice or organize trainings and seminars.

23. Hatchery

Another very good business for young entrepreneurs is starting a hatchery for eggs and selling day-old chicks to poultry farmers.

24. Florist

Fresh flowers are generally used for home decorations or event decorations and you can make money from growing flowers for sale.

25. Start connecting rural farmers with exporters using the internet

Can you browse the internet very well, can you chat online? If yes, then I want to congratulate you because you can connect the agro farmers in the rural areas with Nigeria exporters and earn a commission. A lot of exporters find it very difficult to get their desired agro product at the right quality and quantity, you can do this for them and name your price.

You can also join some online trade portals, secure a contract, sell the contract and charge an appropriate commission.

26. Basket and Broom Production

Baskets are used for packaging agricultural products such as tomatoes, pepper, onions, oranges etc. Since baskets are produced in various sizes, they help the farmers to grade their brands of products for easy pricing.. Our concern here is how to convert palm front and leaves into finished products for economic and commercial gains.

27. Bee Keeping and Honey Production

Honey is manufactured in one of the world’s most efficient factories, the Beehive. Bees may travel as far as 55,000 miles and visit more than two million flowers to gather enough nectar to make just a pound of honey.

You can sell your honey to high net-worth individual, busy executives who prefer to take pure honey than sugar.