Life as a woman in love with agribusiness is challenging —Olamide Alao

Olamide Alao, the daughter of former governor of Oyo state, Adebayo Alao-Akala is the founder of Umera Farms. In this interview with Rukiyat Ogunwade, she speaks about how she started her farm business and how her father helped her journey into entrepreneurship among other issues.

 

Tell us about your journey in to entrepreneurship?

Right from my university days, I have been an entrepreneur, back then in 100Level, I used to sell earrings to my mates in school and it has been entrepreneurship all the way. I have not done anything else, I did not even know how to do anything else other than do businesses and invest in some other  businesses, that is what I have done all my life.

 

What informed your decision to go into farming?

My father owned a farm and at a point, he told me to come and work on the farm which I did but on getting to the farm, I just took interest. It was interesting, I enjoyed it, I had a lot of fun; I started with poultry farming and crop production. I really enjoyed it so I decided to go into it myself.  I did not study Agricultural science and that is the beauty of entrepreneurship, you don’t have to study agricultural science before going into farming, you can learn on the job; so I learnt it on the job.

 

What challenges do you encounter as a woman trying to break frontiers?

One of the major challenges that we face basically in Nigeria, before I start to say as a woman, first and foremost as a farmer, what we face basically is insecurity, we face lack of policies, lack of regulations in the agricultural sector, lack of protection for the farmers and the agric users. Look at what happened recently in March during the election season with no cash policy and the changing of naira, it really affected farmers. I don’t know about other businesses but it affected me as a farmer. It created an artificial scarcity in the market and the middle men took advantage of the situation. Aside from that, there is need for government to create  boards to regulate prices of cash crops ,  there is need for regulations that would protect the farmers, take for example, in the 90s, the cocoa board regulate price of cocoa ,whereby the board decides the price cocoa is sold everywhere in the country.

I also implore the government to include stakeholders  to be part of any board that affects them, take a  look at the corn industry in Nigeria, it is a shame that we have good  lands to plant corn but support and regulations that is not given has made the industry so weak that you are afraid that if you invest your money, you might end up losing it , every three years in Nigeria, there is a certainty that cassava will become expensive , it will go high and then it will go low, so it is terrible that some farmers will wait to farm  until it is expensive, which is not supposed to be because it creates inconsistency in the market, so there is need for consistency in the agricultural sectors,  this inconsistency  can only be eradicated through the establishment of commodity boards  that will come up with real policies

 

What other business do you do aside from farming?

Basically my major business is farming but I invest in other businesses, I am also into real estate business but not actively into it because I collaborate with others; we also have a business school where we train people on entrepreneurship and project management, I am also into fashion designing and I invest in other areas, diversification is the key but my major focus is on farming.

 

As a wife and mother, how do you balance work and family?

It is easy, this is Nigeria where it takes a village to raise children because there  is no home in this country that is not community driven,  we always have one sister and cousin who is living with you so I have support systems who support me in my home .

 

How has being the daughter of a former governor helped you in your career?

Until recently, a lot of people had no idea that I was even the daughter of an ex- governor, people just started to know I am the daughter of Adebayo Alao-Akala, I don’t think it has really affected my business in anyway because most of the people I deal with didn’t know as I try to keep that on a low note due to the level of insecurity in the kind of work I do.

 

So it has not opened doors for you in anyway?

I am still waiting for that door to open honestly, I realized after he died that a lot of people hold him in high esteem, yes I remember I wanted to do a real estate transaction one particular time and I got a huge discount because the man knew my father and my father had helped him, so when that happened, I said okay, God  this is how you work after my father’s death I am getting a favour  just because he is a good man and it also reminded me that I need to live a good life so that my children after I am gone will get favours from people and as well I got favour in my farming business because my farm is at Ogbomoso and people are kind to us, may be its because it is my hometown and because it is Akala’s daughter that owns the farm.

 

Do you think women are exploring their potentials?

Yes, I believe women are exploring their potentials because we have trail blazers in the country that I even look up to but I am not going to mention names so there are lots of them and there is a drive outside there with some women are trying to inspire other women to take charge of their lives and find the way to be a wife, a mother and also be a contributor to the family and to the community.

 

Which aspect of what do you do is most enjoyable to you?

Basically I enjoy when I am in the farm and it breaks my heart that I cannot live on the farm, I say it many times that I wish I can live on the farm but you know the country we live in , if they find out that Akala’s daughter has a farm and she lives on the farm, you know that could be very dangerous but I wish I can live on the farm.

 

What are your thoughts on women thriving for financial independence?

There is nothing wrong in a woman thriving for financial independence, every woman should thrive for her financial independence it is a necessity; every man and woman should thrive for their financial independence, you don’t want to rely on people for finances and when God created us, he created us to be managers of our lives, at times you find out that a lot of women abused out there cannot leave those homes because they are not financially independent, though it happens to men too.

 

What are your guiding principles?

There are lots of principles out there, I believe in principles because one cannot be successful in life without  principles , the first is to be honest in whatever we do , show gratitude for the good and bad times , portraying of good attitude though I am not perfect but I ensure that my attitude is not appalling to others , this means no matter how skilled you are, you must portray good attitude in whatever you do.

 

What advice do you have for women with similar vision?

My advice to them is to start right away, it is high time we stop seeing farming as a man’s job, if you are a woman and you love the business, just start, in fact you don’t have to learn and learn action is the prescription, just start, you will make mistakes and you will learn.

 

What other message do you have for the newly inaugurated president of Nigeria on the development of the Agricultural sector?

Well, I congratulate him, one I am glad that APC won because I am member of APC  while I am personally looking forward to  Agricultural reforms during his administration.

 

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