As Nigeria intensifies efforts towards food security, inclusive growth and development, many entrepreneurs are being encouraged to tap into agri-business. CHIMA NWOKOJI, in this report, unravels how a health condition drove a young lady in her 30s into innovative mushroom farming that has transformed into a thriving small scale enterprise.
THE ancient Greek philosopher, Plato, had a saying, “Necessity is the mother of invention.” It means that need or problem encourages creative efforts to meet that need or solve the problem.
In other words, each of our needs, great or small, motivates us to put out an effort and work hard to meet them, thereby creating solution for others.
This describes the initiative taken by Etimbuk Imuk whose severely asthmatic condition drove into mushroom farming and small scale business ownership.
She remembers it like yesterday, how she gasped for breath in time past due to asthma. “On one of our numerous visits to the hospital, the doctor recommended mushrooms, which we incorporated into regular meals and it kept the asthmatic episodes at bay,” she recalls with a great sense of freedom and wellness.
In her words: “Growing up was really difficult for me and my parents. As a child, I was severely asthmatic and the medication didn’t come cheap for my parents. On one of our numerous visits to the hospital, my mum asked the Doctor if there was an alternative. The doctor recommended mushrooms, which if incorporated into my meals regularly, would keep the asthmatic episodes at bay. We knew mushrooms grow on dead woods but needed to be closely observed to know which ones were edible or not.
“We fell our mango tree and started pouring water and observing. After a while, we were lucky to have mushrooms start growing on the dead wood. From then, mushrooms became a consistent part of my diet till date. I’m grateful for the effort of my parents, as I haven’t had any asthmatic attack in a very long while.”
That was how her journey into entrepreneurship started. Now enlisted among the over 40 million Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) owners in Nigeria, Etimbuk Imuk is the Chief Executive Officer, Eti Farms Global Limited, a micro enterprise that grows and sells mushrooms
MSMEs in Nigeria
SMEs are believed to be the engine room for the development of any economy because they form the bulk of business activities in a growing economy like that of Nigeria.
A 2020 PriceWaterHouseCoopers (PWC) survey found that Nigeria’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) account for 96 percent of the total number of businesses in the country and contribute about 50 percent to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Another 2020 report jointly released by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed that at least, 39,654,385 MSMEs operated in Nigeria as of December 2020. This is compared to 41,543,028 million that were in existence in 2017, indicating a decrease of 4.5 percent.
Also, an NBS and SMEDAN 2019 survey highlighted some notable contributions of MSMEs to the Nigerian economy. It said MSMEs contributed 49 percent to the national GDP, accounted for 96 percent of businesses and 84 percent of employment. The survey highlighted that MSMEs had been major sources of employment and poverty reduction.
“It is evidently clear that the MSMEs could play a catalytic role in the economic transformation of Nigeria. The role includes substantial contribution of the sub-sector to the GDP, employment generation, export, increasing local value addition and technological advancement,” the survey stated.
Providing solution to societal challenges
According to Etimbuk, “Just like me, there are people who have been asked to incorporate mushrooms in their meals for the purpose of healing from a non-communicable disease. There are those who have been asked to stay off meat for health reasons, those who are healthy lifestyle enthusiasts that believe in healthy options and even those who are vegetarians or vegans looking for a trusted source for mushrooms, all year round.
“This motivated me to start Eti Farms Global Limited, where we contribute to the health, wellbeing and nutrition of people through the cultivation, processing and distribution of edible mushrooms. We also ensure the availability of these mushrooms readily all year round.”
Thus, Etimbuk became an entrepreneur and began to create value by solving problems for the people around her. Many do not know that commercial mushroom farming is a lucrative business in Nigeria. Eti Farms Global has opened their eyes.
Though Etimbuk Imuk revealed that with N50,000 to N100,000 one can cultivate mushrooms for home use, “depending on whether you have space or you need to construct one,” Her farm has grown into an inclusive agricultural brand through the cultivation, processing, packaging and sale of 100 percent edible mushrooms, while recycling agro waste(sawdust) into organic, eco-friendly manure.
She grows her mushrooms using Sawdust, which is a waste mostly disposed by burning, releasing pollutants into the atmosphere.
But by using this as raw material, Eti Farms Global reduces greenhouse gases, supporting Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13, and contributing to improving people’s nutrition in Nigeria and beyond, which also falls under SDG 2.
Meeting SDGs
Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as heat waves, droughts, floods and tropical cyclones, aggravating water management problems, reducing agricultural production and food security, increasing health risks, damaging critical infrastructure and interrupting the provision of basic services such water and sanitation, education, energy and transport, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
Etimbuk identified Goal 2, which is to ‘end hunger,’ achieve food security, improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture. Target 2.1 recommends that by 2030, the world should end hunger and ensure access by all people, in particular the poor and people in vulnerable situations, including infants, to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round.
Target 2.3 says by 2030, “double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, in particular women, indigenous peoples, family farmers, pastoralists and fishers, including through secure and equal access to land, other productive resources and inputs, knowledge, financial services, markets and opportunities for value addition and non-farm employment.”
She is also delving into goal 13 which according to the UN, requires that one of the things to do is to, “Consume less meat and become vegetarian for one day a week, because the meat production industry has a huge impact on the environment.”
In her activities, Etimbuk says she raises awareness on these goals and encourages people to consider food security and environmental sustainability in all their various endeavours.
SDG 13 Climate action says that composting food scraps can reduce climate impact while also recycling nutrients. It recommends the use of reusable products. “Buy eco-friendly products. Read the packaging to see if products are produced in an eco-friendly way.”
In deliberate pursuit of the SDGs, Imuk explains; “We grow our mushrooms in a greenhouse facility using sawdust as a growing medium. By using this as one of our raw materials, we reduce greenhouse gases, supporting SDG 13, and contributing to improving people’s nutrition in Nigeria and beyond (SDG 2).”
Imuk proudly recommends her products that are certified by NAFAC. They are:
Fresh Mushroom; Dried Mushroom and Mushroom powder.
Eti Farms Global has been recognized by several organizations. For instance, “My work has been recognized and given awards by SME100Africa (25under25 for Agriculture), Biodun and Ibukunle Foundation, Joan Agha Foundation, UNAN, Beyond Limits Africa, Eloy Award for Enterprise, 2019, Wegrow Africa, Businessdayng, Leading Ladies Africa, Under 40 CEOs, GEN Nigeria, Tingomobile and many others.
These recognitions she said are validations that people see and recognize the value “our work brings to them, the community and the environment. It is also a source of encouragement to our team and youths out there that hard work and consistency in anything you are passionate about will definitely lead to success.”
Challenges/starting small
Imuk has been in business since 2019 and have impacted over 10,000 people with her products. However, characteristic of the business environment in Nigeria, some of her challenges are funding to enable her produce even more and be able to reach more people with the products as presently, demands surpass supply.
Another challenge is having a good and consistent source for spawn, which is the seed used in growing mushrooms. But, as a matter of necessity, she is focused on beginning her own spawn production laboratory soon. This also requires funding of about N1.5 million for a medium scale lab.
To start mushroom farming in Nigeria, a smallholder farmer must choose a variety to cultivate, this can be based on environment or target market. The medium to grow mushroom can be sawdust, coco peat, log of wood among others.
Substrate, the material which provides nourishment for a plant to grow must be provided also.
If sawdust will be chosen as substrate, it has to be partially decomposed to make it less acidic. This is done for a few days and watered. Farmers advise that there is need to heat the substrate for a few minutes to sterilise it in order to kill all micro-organisms that could be competing with the mushroom for nutrient; then allow to cool and bag them in polythene bags.
Next thing to do is to inoculate the substrate that has been sterilized with mushroom seeds also known as mycelium. This process can also be called “spawning”.
After the inoculation, the spawned bags are taken into the incubation room, which is usually dark, after four to five weeks they are transferred into the growth room where the mushroom have access to light. This helps to stimulate their growth.
The polythene bags are expected to be stacked together to allow them to be sprayed with water and be kept moist. Any selected medium must be free from micro-organism and according to Imuk, from growing to harvest takes 5 to 8 weeks.
Another agriculturist, Chinedu David, in his guide to starting mushroom farming said, “You can create the kind of habitat suitable for growing mushrooms at home. Get a space, sawdust and bran and get them disinfected to remove microorganisms, which may affect the growth of the mushrooms.
“Get a container which can be a plastic bag or something else that has enough space to allow the mushroom spawns (seeds) to grow. The mushroom spawns need an initial heat before they grow. So, place the container with the mixture of sawdust and spawns under direct sunlight to heat up for some time.
“After heating, place the container in a dark room or space. This is where the growing process occurs. The room should have good ventilation and be at normal room temperature.’
He further advises that the intending farmer should pour some soil over the mixture and spray it with water regularly to keep it moistened for about four weeks as the spawns grow into mushrooms.
“To use the Wood Log Medium, make holes into the pieces of wood and place the spawns in these holes. Keep the logs under a shade to protect the spawns from direct sunlight. Spray the spawns regularly as they grow into mushrooms,” he said.
According to some experts in the agricultural value chain, Mushroom takes foru to five weeks after incubation. After that, it can be harvested every 24-36 hours. Once the mushroom is detached from the substrate or growing medium, it is ready to eat or it can be dried, packaged for sale.
Mostly, funding the business has been through personal source, good will and grants. Imuk have asked for loan before, for expansion, but the process was too tedious, without result, so she moved on.
“I will encourage those interested in going into mushroom farming to get the necessary training and start. Mushroom farming is lucrative and now is the best time, as there are few people in the space,” she advises.
Etimbuk Imuk’s Mushrooms are presently available in more than 30 supermarkets in Lagos State. She assures that mushroom farming is a profitable business that does not require a lot of capital to start. This means anyone with the interest and training can start small and grow in it.
The beauty of it is that it can be grown in almost all regions in Nigeria, except most northern states due to extended and drastic hot weather conditions.
To boost, mushroom farming, she said government can provide support through advocacy, inclusion of mushroom farming as one of the interventions projects it carries out in in the agricultural sector. Government can also provide grants to already existing mushroom farmers and include mushrooms in the school feeding programme for school children.
It is a farming with short yielding time. It can help in the fight against malnutrition and poverty in rural communities, when farmers are encouraged to farm in large quantities. As an entrepreneur, Imuk’s radical innovation in mushroom farming can also contribute to Foreign Exchange (FX) earnings for the country as it can be exported to other Countries. As economists Robert Litan and Carl Schramm have pointed out:
“Entrepreneurs throughout modern economic history, in this country (US) and others, have been disproportionately responsible for truly radical (changes) that not only fundamentally transformed consumers’ lives, but also became platforms for many other industries that, in combination, have fundamentally changed entire economies.”
Addressing food security
Based on the 1996 World Food Summit, food security is attained when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.
So, food availability as one of the dimensions of food security addresses the “supply side” of food security and is determined by the level of food production, stock levels and net trade. Mushrooms can be planted all year round to guarantee supply.
Resulting from good care and feeding practices sufficient energy and nutrient intake helps individuals live a healthy life as espoused in the above definition. It also involves food preparation, diversity of the diet and intra-household distribution of food. Combined with good biological utilization of food consumed, this determines the nutritional status of individuals.
As Nigeria intensifies efforts to quickly increase food security while growing the economy, Mushroom as a nutritional product forms part of a basket of food items expected to complement daily bread. Mushrooms are plant protein, which are high in dietary fibre, lots of antioxidants that boost our immunity, has no cholesterol, has the ability to cleanse the body of excessive cholesterol. It contains vitamins and minerals. It helps in the management of blood pressure, blood sugar, fights cancerous cells, diabetes, asthma, obesity, and guarantees general wellbeing.
Apart from being a source of good protein, mushrooms are said to be used in weight loss programmes. Mushroom helps in combating non-cancerous tumor and serves as antibiotics, which can be used to prevent or treat hypertension, wounds, and tumor.
Mushrooms are of various types, but there are four common ones namely chanterelles, shiitake, morels, and oysters. Chanterelles are very rich in vitamins C, D, and also contain a high amount of potassium. Shiitake is mostly found in Asian countries. It is widely known to reduce tumors. Morels mushroom contains a high amount of vitamin c and antioxidant. It also helps to protect the liver from toxic materials. Mushrooms are very low in carbohydrate. They are better referred to as vegetables, and they are absorbable by the body without producing waste.
Oyster mushroom helps to reduce the cholesterol level in the body, and is said to have antibacterial and anti-oxidant properties and lots of amino acids.
Mushroom market in Nigeria
The supply of mushroom is low compared to its high demand. Mushrooms are sold in kilogram or grams with varying prices depending on location, but on the average a kilogram of mushroom is between N2000- N3000 in Nigeria. The demand for mushroom is high while its supply is low in Nigeria. Therefore, the supply is supported by exporting mushrooms from other countries. That’s reason beginner mushroom farmers can tap in now and start making profit.
Also, mushroom farming takes some effort, but the profit is worth more than the effort. Farmers say this business can easily make one a millionaire depending on the amount invested.
An agric expert Chinedu David said for instance, “you made 25 bags of oysters which weigh about 500 kilos. 1 kilo of oysters is N2000, 500 kilos of oyster gives you 2000 × 500 = N1,000,000.
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