Entrepreneurship is not limited to just merely recognizing opportunities
In recent years we have heard many compelling stories of people who have given up their lavish lifestyles and have taken up organic farming as an occupation. For instance, let’s take an example of a sibling duo who gave up their well to pay jobs in order to take up farming as an occupation. The brothers currently earn up to 40k dollars a month from their piece of land by doing organic farming.
Such stories have been the footholds that make the organic farming sector successful and the industry has had a profit of over a $100 billion last year. As per the records from FiBL and IFOAM, year after year the organic sector has seen steady and healthy growth. With people now using more organic products it’s not shocking to see this positive growth. It is especially popular in Oceania (Australia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia) and Europe which account for 50% and 22% respectively of the global organic agricultural land across the globe.
The above-mentioned markets are witnessing a rapid increase in the number of entrepreneurs who have an innovation-driven approach to organic farming. It is also to be noted that Africa, which consists of a vast landmass, accounts for a mere 3% of the global organic agricultural land. The corresponding statistics from the Middle East are far less promising.
The Middle Eastern and North African regions are having acute water scarcity, barren lands, and a scorching climate that is not useable for agriculture (Example UAE and other such middle east countries). Even intensive conventional farming techniques offer low yields, as the temperatures can go as high as 50 degrees Celsius in these areas. This in turn just leaves organic farming, which consists of many requirements or criteria, including little to no chemical input, without much scope in these areas.
Entrepreneurship is not limited to just merely recognizing opportunities; it is also about creating new opportunities from challenges. These baren lands located in places such as the UAE are an opportunity for desert farming which can be beneficial, and some investors are starting to take a shine on the idea of organic desert farming. This move was approved by the Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology (ESMA) in 2019, which certified about 2k plus organic products in just six months, thereby increasing the quarter-on-quarter number of certifications.
Now organic farming in these areas have become more profitable these days. People tend to buy more of these products as they are healthy which in turn brings a higher demand and supply chain. This supports the organic food business and entrepreneurs.
Article source: Forbes.com
Image credit: gulfnews.com
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