Tell us about Chi Tola Farms ?
Chitola farms started operations in 2010 but was officially registered in 2016. We are into agro consultancy, processing and marketing. Over these years we have scaled from primary producers of food to processing. We have taken into consideration the supply chain management and our products such as mushrooms, tiger-nuts that have been processed to meet the international standard can be seen in shelves of stores and supermarkets across the country and some ECOWAS countries.
Last year you had a terrible fire incident in your farm, have you gotten back on your feet?
It was one terrible experience but God is always faithful. I haven’t fully recovered, I am still reconstructing the farm and replacing lost equipment, but yes, I am progressing. These are things we learn in life, to me, it is a learning process. It makes us to look at things we didn’t get right and do it rightly. It was a setback to us but we will surmount.
You have been into a lot of things from Tigernuts to Mushroom. how has it been?
It’s been ok. There are opportunities in agriculture and agro processing and our focus in Chitola farms is adding value to improve livelihoods by providing affordable value added agro products for both local and international consumption. We strongly advocate for the consumption of mushrooms. It has a very high level of protein and the protein in mushroom is better than what you can get in beef or some lifestock due to low cholesterol which has been scientifically proven to be bad for the heart, you know mushroom isn’t saddle with this cholesterol making is perfect for those that are health conscious.
Nigerians do not understand the importance of mushroom as a source of protein. What is the level of sensitization you are doing?
The mushroom association has and is doing so much and Nigerians are picking interest and mushroom is gaining mass recognition as a perfect alternative to meat. We are still driving the sensitization, though we have barriers such as culture and literacy but we are driving the consumption.
here are opportunities in agriculture and agro processing and our focus in Chitola farms is adding value to improve livelihoods by providing affordable value added agro products for both local and international consumption. We strongly advocate for the consumption of mushrooms.
Packaging has always been a challenge for Nigerian farmers. How do you package your products?
We package to international standards. In any sales business. Packaging is everything. Forget bogus branding, the right packaging does good to your products. That is the way we have been doing, our packaging stores are extremely neat and over the years the level of returns or complaints have been low.
What are the challenges you have been facing as a female farmer?
No challenge I can’t surmount with determination. Truly the government had made so much promises and keeping so little of it bit as an entrepreneur, excuses are there and should not be in view at all. We look at the bigger picture and the Nigerian market is so big so this keeps us going not challenges. Though the issue of support and intervention from the government has always been low but we try to find a way around this.
What distinguishes your mushroom product from others in the shelves?
Quality, Affordability and global best practices. We ensure that we adhere to the hygiene standards and this has made us gain a lot of confidence from our consumers. Ours is more of organic products. Our mushroom is grown in natural condition and we use less preservatives in packaging. These are our selling points.
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