Jide Akinseye blazes the trail in farm real estate with Flip farm resort

The MD/CEO, Flip Farms Resort, an arm of Flip Properties Ltd speaks with Lanre Shodimu on the activities of his firm and its commitment to food Security and the growth of the Real Estate industry in Nigeria.

Sir, give us some insights into Flip Farm Resort!

Flip Farm Resort is an  agricultural resort service which  basically is into sales of Farmlands, for those who want to venture in agricultural activities.

We have a product called Agro to Home, where lands that are used as farms,  eventually become places where people reside when developments come in. So that is what we basically  do here at Flip Farm Resort.

You have been into the sale of land for Agricultural purposes for sometime now, what informed your decision?

Well, I have always loved farming. I stumbled into the real estate business and discovered that real estate often appreciates with time, and with my agricultural instinct, I realised that I can go into land banking, use the same land for agricultural purposes and still sell at real estate value.

We went into it fully after the purchase of about 100 acres of land located in Awowo, Ogun State. We  could not farm the entire land because it is so massive and we started selling acres to other  farmers and it was indeed lucrative. This is just as we have always emphasised in our marketing activities on the need for diversification in our investment drive and since then, we have been promoting the sales of farmlands, acquiring more farmlands and selling more farmlands, and that is where we are today.

Where are these lands located?

Our lands are located in Awowo in Ewekoro, Ogun State. Our lands in Awowo are certified for farming by the Ogun State government. The soil has been tested and certified for farming purposes. We have several other big farms out there with huge mechanised capacities. The reason we acquire lands there is because of the land’s readiness for agricultural purposes.

We also have farmlands in Epe, Ijebu, and somewhere in Alamala in Abeokuta, and we are hoping to expand to Oyo and Ilorin very soon.

How certified are these lands and how free are they from all encumbrances?

Our lands are free from government acquisition and suitable for agricultural purposes. We are  located in areas that are safe from herdsman incursion and banditry. You will have no land grabbing experience if you buy from us. If you buy land from us, you are covered and safe from the menace of “omonile” and any other form of threats to the ownership of the land.

Kindly lead us into some of your packages and offers!

We have several packages and offers which include – N1 Million per acre, N1.7 Million for two acres, N3 Million for 5 acres, N6 Million for 10 acres. These are some of our basic packages of farmlands.

What policies does the government need to put in place to ensure your activities are seamless?

Well, with the present state of the economy as regards food security, the favourable government policies include financial grants that can enable us to boost farming activities, getting seedlings from the government through the Ministry of Agriculture and also from states and local governments. This will enable us to engage in farming activities on a large scale such as mechanised farming to enable us to give back to the society.

We engage in maize and cassava farming, and we can definitely expand on what we presently do.

Several reasons have been adduced to food inflation we currently have, do you think Nigeria is not engaging in adequate farming activities?

We are certainly not engaging in farming activities up to our capacity, however, we are trying our best . It is definitely going to take a while to get back on our feet in terms of agriculture. Past governments have tried their best in agricultural development, and the present government is taking it up from there.

Several interventions have been made  by the Federal and State Government since the problem started, so I feel we just need to keep doing more and we will definitely get there. I am therefore using this medium to encourage fellow Nigerian Youths to look at agriculture as a way out.

If we maximise our agricultural potential, we will begin to export more agricultural produce,meaning we have more than enough to feed ourselves, exporting agricultural produce  will improve our foreign earnings and also boost our GDP.

What other aspects of Real Estate investment are you involved in?

Asides the sale of farmlands, we also have our private Estate for sale. It is a mini Estate in Awowo, Ogun State. We are selling a service plot at N800,000 per plot, strictly residential and already has quite a number of people that have subscribed and are already building on it.

We also have several real estate activities we do such as property management, sales and lease.

Give us an honest assessment of the Real Estate sector in the past 10 years…

Well, the sector has grown fast and has grown tremendously.  It’s the only industry that has been sustaining Housing in the country.

The private sector is actually doing the bulk of housing provision, while the state and federal government are doing a little percentage of it.