By Joshua Kato
A farmer to become truly commercial and earn from his sweat, he or she must be able to take risks and be a little adventurous.
Farmers should behave like ‘prospecting’ businessmen, who are not afraid of taking risks in order to earn that extra buck. Farmers must be able to spot opportunities and grab them with glee. For example, while most farmers traditionally grow crops during the rainy season, the risk takers go a step further and plant crops, especially seasonal crops like vegetables, during the dry season.
This means that they harvest when food is generally scarce on the market. All they do is a little investment in irrigation kits to be able to farm through the dry spell.
At the end of the day, the risk-takers earn much more than the traditional, conservative farmer. But even with this risk-taking, caution is required. For example, it is not advisable to put everything on the farm at risk.
Farmers need to create ‘risk’ zones on the farm and a ‘risk budget’, separate from the normal farm operations to avoid disappointment if the risk does not pay off. Go out there, take calculated risks and be adventurous to earn that extra buck.
