Why agriculture must wear a new face — Xtralarge boss

By Cynthia Alo

The Group Managing Director of Xtralarge Farms and Resorts, has called for a radical transformation of Nigeria’s agricultural sector, urging stakeholders to “re-adorn” farming and reposition it as a profitable, modern enterprise capable of driving food security and economic growth.

Speaking at the 2026 Vanguard Economic Discourse in Lagos, the agribusiness leader warned that the current perception of agriculture as a labour-intensive, low-income venture continues to discourage youth participation, stressing that without a deliberate shift towards agribusiness and value addition, the country risks a worsening food crisis in the coming years.

She further highlighted the scale of post-harvest losses and the impact of unstable pricing on farmers’ profitability, noting that falling food prices amid rising input costs are pushing many producers out of business. She called for urgent reforms to make agriculture more attractive, sustainable and wealth-generating, particularly for young people and women. (Full Speech below)  .

  I am the Group Managing Director of Xtralarge Farms and Resorts in Nigeria, Xtralarge Global Agritourism Limited in the UK. I am the president of the Female Agri-preneurs Association, and we work in close relationship with the American Association for Female Agri-preneurs. And if there is any woman sitting in this meeting today and you are a farmer or someone that has something to do in the agri-business value chain, then I’m speaking your mind and I’m here for you. If I also have people who are here, young people, not only by age but by heart, then I’d like to let you know that something great is coming.  

Xtralarge stands for re-adorning agriculture, not only in Nigeria, in Africa and globally. We believe that the apparel that agriculture is wearing presently is one that epitomises poverty, that epitomises hardship and labour. And that is why when you ask the youths, deep down, how many of them want to be real farmers after graduating out of university? Maybe one or two percent.  Because they think that the picture of the farmer they have in their mind is what they see on African Magic. That Baba inside that thick forest wearing that tattered shirt with his cutlass and hoes, not anybody looking close to me, or to my wonderful NACCIMA president here, or to the AfAN president. We need to re-adorn agriculture.  We need to wear a new apparel for it. And that is what we are doing at Xtralarge having been able to raise a community of over 200,000 people, who are earning every day.  Living people not dead, that are earning every day from the agribusiness value chain. We have been able to raise a community of 1 million people, not only in Nigeria, but spread across 14 different nations of the world. We are passionate, not just about agriculture, but healthy foods.  We have in our stable 21 different healthy food products. And we not only preach about agriculture, we also talk about eating your way into wellness, as I’m also a living witness. We also, to the glory of God, own the biggest luxury farm resorts in Nigeria, as a way of re-adorning agriculture.    As a way of promoting and making agriculture more sustainable and profitable by including tourism infusion.So I stand here today also as the co-host and the president of the first ever World Agri-Tourism Festival, held anywhere on the planet Earth. For the first time here in Nigeria, we were greatly supported by the government. I want to close with this  Number one, we are here to talk about the Vanguard of food security and socio-economic development in Nigeria. I want to ask this question, and I’m expecting everybody in this room to give me an answer. Do we have a problem of food insecurity? Yes or no? We do, right? Thank you very much.So, what you don’t want, you don’t watch. When we talk about it, what are we doing about it? It is not about attending summits and conferences all the time. It is about what we can start doing from today.

And as a leading example in the agribusiness sector, Xtralarge Farms, with our 14 different farm locations in Nigeria, employing and having thousands of people earning from the agribusiness value chain, we are saying, don’t sit and watch. Start doing now. I will be very happy if by next year we have the opportunity to have this kind of event again, and we have at least half of this room who are practical farmers.  Not only by mouth, but by proof. Can I visit your farm? Are you affiliated to a farming organisation? Are you investing in farming? Are you promoting farming? What exactly are you doing to promote agriculture in Nigeria? I also want to close by appreciating our youth and women, and I want to give 100 tickets here today. We are holding an Agri-Wealth Revolution Summit on the 1st of May, commemorating the Labour Day.Telling people in the workforce that even as you are working in paid employment or even in your business, you can start doing something in agriculture gradually. That event is a paid event, but we are going to give the ticket for free to 100 youth and women. And also to every single person who is here from a tertiary institution, You just got a ticket to visit Xtralarge Farms and Resources for a one-day explorative vacation to see what agriculture means in the modern day, and how you can make it more profitable through the infusion of tourism.Davies used the opportunity of the panel session to further dissect the challenges and proffer solutions to Nigeria’s agric sector headaches, stating:“Even though I’m not a politician, I’ve never been a politician, but I believe that the moment our government begins to bring in youth and women, especially people who are on the field, to come in and lend a voice to the challenges that we’re facing in our country, there will definitely be a difference. If I were given an opportunity, like you said, what I’m going to do is to add a mindset shift from just raising farmers in Nigeria to grooming Agri-preneurs.“I stand as a living example to one of the challenges. I’m so happy with the topic you gave me to talk about, that’s post-harvest losses. I remember about 18 years ago when we came to Nigeria, my husband and I, to come into farming.“We just had the passion to feed people with 100% healthy foods, and we started with cassava farming. But lo and behold, we did the cassava, our factory beautiful, brought in state-of-the-art equipment and all to ensure that this is not just cassava, it should bring health to our people. But we had a challenge.  “After cultivating and everything, and adding value, we couldn’t sell. So one thing I’m going to do, if I’m given the opportunity to make a change, even though we’re trying to make a change already, is to shift the attention of our farmers. Not completely away from farming, but to let them now know how to add value to farming as a business.“Where we don’t do farming for passion, we do farming as a business. Where we do it as a green business, not just agriculture. Then we can begin to address the issue of post-harvest losses.“So that you don’t just go to the farm without having in mind who you’re producing for, how you intend to sell, which are one of the major issues that farmers are having in Nigeria. I can stand here and boldly prophesy that there is going to be a bigger food challenge by the year 2028. My presidents who are here, for AFAN and IFAD and all, they will understand what I’m saying.“If you look at what is happening in our economy right now, food prices are dropping every day. But food inputs, farm inputs and agricultural inputs are on the rise. What you are buying at a cheaper rate is putting a farmer in debt.“What you are buying at a cheaper rate now is discouraging totally our farmer out there. So what happens is that if you check the graph, you see that it goes up, it comes down, it comes flat, it goes down, it goes up. It’s never stable.  “Pricing is a challenge. Until our government begins to help us find a solution to pricing of food, farmers are already discouraged with security challenges. But when you don’t have the right value for what you are producing on your farm, you will be further discouraged.“This year now, look at the price of one of the very staple foods in Nigeria, Garri. The price is dropping every day. What will happen this year, as rain is about to start, is that many farmers will not go to farm for cassava.“So by next year, a few of them that did late farming last year, they are the ones we will have. And the prices will simply be like that. And by 2028, all of us will suffer for it.“Because the discouragement is too much. We have to learn how to add value to what we are doing, make it an agri-business that people can generate true wealth from. Why do you want to send me to the farm? Because I love to feed the people and I come back poor. And I lose my family. And I lose my investments.“There has to be protection of not just human lives, but also of the capital and investment that is being invested into the agri-businesses. That is one thing I’m going to do differently. Adding value, creating the right environment, and making it truly, truly profitable”