TRANSFORMING RURAL AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITIES THROUGH ORGANIC RE-ENGINEERING

The stated mission and objectives of B-Bovid are to produce and supply high quality biodiversity products such as palm oil, palm kernel oil and other vegetable oils, and to provide services such as cattle and fish farming, for the domestic and export markets. To provide the basic raw materials, the company demonstrate best practice in organic farming on its own plantations, has established an out-grower scheme and provide the members of this scheme with both high quality planting material and training in modern farming techniques B-BOVID’s operations include: • Establishment of an agricultural mechanization centre, the first of its kind in the region, to bring modern agricultural equipment and techniques to the farmers’ doorstep; • A pilot project within its farmers demonstration and training programme to encourage organic aqua and vegetable farming, as a viable alternative and sustainable farming venture; • A 350 acre 100% organic oil-palm plantation, with plans to expand to approximately 1000 acres within the next two years; • Provision of improved variety of seeds to out-growers; • Capacity enhancement through the establishment of a demonstration and training centre, to enable farmers avail themselves of practical training on the job, using ICT. They also benefit from theoretical and practical methods of farming to upgrade their skills; • A processing and packaging unit to ensure that the perennial problem of food glut is brought to the barest minimum whilst the consumer, particularly the hotel and catering industry benefits from value added produce; • Equipment for gari-processing; • Establishment of an organic palm kernel oil mill and a vegetable oil refinery, both of which should be operational by October this year. An innovative and key part of the programme is the availability of the first ever ICT and agricultural mechanization centre offered by B-BOVID to give practical training and demonstration sessions on the use of ICT and modern agricultural equipment to the farmers. This is to allow the farmers make good use of their mobile phones and other technologies to learn and gather information that is very important to them. The entire value-chain process is complemented by the establishment of B-BOVID’s processing and packaging facility designed to take excess produce off the farmer thus assuring market security whilst at the same time serving as a dependent source of supply of organic foods for the hotel and catering industry and related markets. B-BOVID will also use the waste from palm oil and palm kernel mill for generating electricity for the surrounding communities and also for animal food