Toyola Consult Principal Consultant Mrs. Oluwatoyin Olamiji is an entrepreneur. She started a Moringa Estate for would-be investors, looking for sustainable means of income. She is creating 1,000-hectare Moringa estates in Oyo and Kwara states. The project also has a strong focus on increased food production and improved livelihoods through cooperative investment.
Mrs. Olamiji said the project would last 10 years, but that returns on investment would be paid every six months.
She said an investment of N180, 000 would earn returns of N1 million yearly.
Mrs. Olamiji, a chartered accountant, dropped everything for the moringa project. She assured that the venture would create jobs and a new industry with a huge export potential.
She said the properties of Moringa were extraordinary such that they could be usd in creams, oils and teas to help cure arthritis, rheumatism, asthma, cancer, constipation, diabetes, diarrhoea, epilepsy, intestinal ulcers, headache, high blood pressure, kidney stones and thyroid disorders.
For her, a new venture such as this, is what makes a profit-friendly economic system. She said moringa had proven to be a successful business wherever it was nurtured.
One of the supporters of the project and Chairman, Best Foods Global Limited, Mr Emmanuel Ijewere, said exporting agricultural produce required compliance with United States and European Union (EU) regulations, which need proper internal organisation, communication and transparency. He said exportable moringa must be traceable to control quality.
The National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN) Publicity Secretary, Sotonye Anga, said moringa is a species of major economic importance, therefore, there had been an upsurge of interest in its cultivation and production.
Anga said new farms were most instrumental in raising production, facilitating proper harvest and expanding moringa growing.