Sodiq Ojuroungbe A real estate company, Dual Realty Ltd has expressed plans to contribute to mitigating the food security crisis in Nigeria through real estate investments. The Chief Operating Officer, Mr Festus-Tomiwa Oyelakin in a statement made available to our correspondent on Sunday evening, said the company had launched a scheme in which it invests in large-scale farming on behalf of its customers and gives them annual interest on the farming investment. Nigeria is currently battling food insecurity as a result of climate change, and eco-violence in farming communities.
According to the United Nations, around 80-82 million Nigerians are at risk of severe food insecurity by 2030, if the situation is not arrested. Reacting, the Dual Realty COO said the real estate firm opened an estate in the Moniya area of Ibadan as part of efforts to increase investment in agriculture and help Nigeria mitigate food insecurity and widespread hunger. While selling legitimately acquired land at affordable prices, Oyelakin noted that the company is also helping buyers invest in agriculture, by farming on the land and sharing the proceeds with the land owners.
He further explained that the land in the Springfield Estate is being utilised for farming on behalf of the new owners. “It is a form of Land banking in which people buy land that has potential development; they buy the land at a low cost and sell the land at a higher price after some years when the area would have been more developed. All the area would have been more developed.
But instead of just leaving the land fallow, we help our buyers farm on the land. “When Real Estate companies sell land in undeveloped areas, they just leave the land empty until development comes to that community after many years. But these properties can be put to better use like agriculture.
“So we are contributing to reducing the food crisis and hunger in Nigeria; at the same time, the land owners get returns while their property value also increases. We take care of all the agricultural processes – weed clearing, seedling, farming, harvesting, etc. At the end of the farming season, they get between 10 per cent to 25 per cent return on investment,” Oyelakin explained.
He further disclosed that the company employed farmers to plant cassava, maize, tomatoes, plantain, and timber, among other crops, which would be sold in the Nigerian market. “Our customers not only own a land, they also earn; and collectively, we are contributing to efforts to reduce hunger and food insecurity in Nigeria,” he added. Copyright PUNCH All rights reserved.
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