How Johnvents is turning Nigeria’s cocoa challenges into a global agribusiness

Over the years, Johnvents, a subsidiary of Capitalsage Holdings, has leveraged Nigeria’s agricultural potential to develop an built-in agribusiness spanning commodity buying and selling, agro-processing athen processJoselllamu, founder and group managing director of Capitalsage Holdings, discusses how Johnvents is remodeling Nigeria’s agribusiness panorama by means of investments in cocoa and cashew processing, vegetable oil manufacturing, animal feed manufacturing and different value-added merchandise.

Mr Alamu discusses the experiences that impressed his entrepreneurial journey, the challenges of accessing finance and markets, and the corporate’s efforts to enhance cocoa high quality by means of farmer coaching, sustainable practices, and entry to improved seedlings. He additionally highlights the necessity to broaden home cocoa manufacturing, exchange ageing cocoa bushes and strengthen agricultural processing to cut back Africa’s dependence on uncooked commodity exports.

PT: What motivated you to go into cocoa-product manufacturing?

Mr Alamu: I began my profession on the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan. I’m additionally the proud son of a instructor who taught agriculture, and I graduated from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta. So, if you have a look at my household background, training and profession, you may see that agriculture has at all times been a part of my journey. I started my profession at IITA, a analysis institute, as a monitoring and analysis specialist. This allowed me to work immediately with farmers. At the time, we weren’t working particularly on cocoa. We labored with farmers cultivating cassava, maize and different crops.

Through our analysis, farmers repeatedly recognized a number of challenges, however two constantly stood out: entry to finance and entry to markets. The response to those challenges was usually extra analysis, and the cycle continued. I made a decision to not see these two main issues within the agricultural sector merely as challenges. Instead, I noticed them as alternatives to discover. I had a number of concepts about the right way to reap the benefits of these alternatives and switch them into viable companies. I noticed them as ventures I might pursue, and I imagine that’s how the corporate identify, Johnvents, took place. Our preliminary enterprise targeted on coaching farmers in good agronomic practices, shopping for their produce, and promoting it to the market.

From there, we expanded into commodity buying and selling. We equipped maize seedlings and grains to internally displaced individuals’ camps to help meals safety efforts promoted by growth finance establishments, the World Food Programme, Catholic Relief Services and different organisations. However, once I began my entrepreneurial journey, I didn’t restrict myself to agriculture. I additionally established a monetary companies enterprise known as Credit Assistants Investment Limited, which has since grown into Capital State Technology Group.

At one level, I travelled to Akure to market a microfinance financial institution product. The go to took me to a web site beside our present manufacturing facility in Akure, owned by a cocoa cooperative conglomerate. The cooperative knowledgeable me that it had a distressed, moribund manufacturing facility and was searching for buyers. However, I knew nothing in regards to the manufacturing facility; bushes overgrown it, and the equipment wanted consideration. That expertise sparked my curiosity. I advised them I used to be keen to amass the manufacturing facility. I requested the cooperative for a versatile fee construction and assist leveraging its model. I additionally requested entry to human sources, together with engineers who might help the operation. One of the engineers advisable to us was Engineer Gomolu. He is nonetheless on our board immediately as the chief director, technical, at Johnvents Cocoa.

That was how the story started.

We secured financing from the International Finance Corporation to refurbish the manufacturing facility and purchase new equipment for our Akure operations. From there, we additional acquired Premium Cocoa Products in Oyo State. The enterprise grew to become much more attention-grabbing as we diversified past cocoa.

Today, we course of cashews at our Ondo State manufacturing facility, with a capability of 30,000 metric tonnes. We even have 10 vegetation in Ondo that course of cashews into kernels and shells, course of soybeans into soybean oil and soybean meal, and run an animal feed mill.

We have additionally expanded considerably into fast-moving client items (FMCG). We course of cocoa into merchandise resembling Johnvents Choco Pops, Johnvents Choco Cubes, and Johnvents chocolate, together with merchandise for youngsters. We even have our personal bottled-water model.

We function throughout the agricultural worth chain, together with upstream, midstream, and downstream actions. Our imaginative and prescient is to change into a actually global and inclusive agribusiness that facilitates global provide chains, significantly in meals manufacturing and meals safety. We at the moment function in 19 international locations, and we plan to consolidate our presence in these markets by transitioning from commodity buying and selling in direction of agricultural processing. Enough is sufficient. Africa has spent an excessive amount of time speaking about the necessity to cease exporting uncooked commodities. We don’t wish to be part of the refrain of complaints. We wish to preserve constructing factories and altering that narrative in a important approach.

PT: How do you guarantee the standard of your uncooked supplies, given considerations in regards to the high quality of cocoa beans sourced in Nigeria?

Mr Alamu: Quality merchandise start with major manufacturing. It begins on the farm. Johnvents has invested considerably in a strong sustainability programme. I ought to point out that Johnvents is Rainforest Alliance-certified. This certification validates our sustainability efforts. What will we do for farmers? We hyperlink them with related agricultural analysis establishments, together with the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN), which supplies entry to improved, high-yielding varieties. Gone are the times when farmers needed to wait 5 years for cocoa bushes to mature. Some varieties now mature in lower than three years, and a few reportedly in as little as 18 months. The first step is giving farmers entry to high-quality seedlings.

Secondly, by means of our sustainability programme, we join them with acceptable financing companions to enhance entry to finance. We additionally prepare them in good agronomic practices.

Today, we’ve got about 40,000 farmers underneath our programme, making it nearly not possible to work with each farmer individually. To deal with this, we use completely different methods. Some farmers are organised into cooperatives, by means of which we have interaction with them, whereas others are related by means of our native shopping for brokers. Our farmers and native shopping for brokers are licensed, and our factories are recertified as properly. Because a lot of Nigerian cocoa is destined for Europe, we should adjust to related European Union rules and sustainability necessities. Our sustainability programme has helped us deal with these necessities.

A major proportion of the cocoa we deal with is now compliant with the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).

This entails addressing points resembling traceability and little one labour, making certain that youngsters will not be despatched to farms when they need to be at school. It additionally covers pesticide residues in crops. Through our coaching programmes, farmers be taught which pesticides to make use of and the suitable portions. These points beforehand made Nigerian cocoa much less aggressive in worldwide markets.

We have a cocoa bean processing capability of 48,000 metric tonnes. However, Nigeria’s cocoa manufacturing is declining, with annual output estimated at 300,000 metric tonnes. One problem is that our opponents will not be simply different cocoa processors; additionally they embrace uncooked cocoa bean exporters. Raw bean exporters get pleasure from shorter enterprise cycles as a result of they don’t must retailer massive portions of cocoa in warehouses for prolonged intervals or commit the substantial working capital processors require.

As processors, we should maintain inventory and tie up capital whereas ready to course of and promote our merchandise. This places us at a drawback in contrast with uncooked bean exporters. We recognise that Nigeria’s cocoa provide might not meet our wants except the nation develops a deliberate agenda to extend cocoa manufacturing.

Beyond our sustainability programme, which addresses current cocoa farms, we’re additionally working to switch previous cocoa bushes, as many in manufacturing are ageing.

We have additionally developed our personal agroforestry mannequin, which we’re at the moment implementing in Ondo and Cross River states. We respect the state governments’ help. Ondo State has supplied us with roughly 1,000 hectares of land, the place cocoa farmers can personal plots and set up cocoa farms consistent with prescribed high quality requirements. The Cross River State Government has supplied us with roughly 7,000 hectares. We will proceed to advocate for help from different cocoa-producing states. We have written to state governments and are awaiting their response. We are able to work with them to make extra land obtainable for cocoa manufacturing. Nigeria wants to extend its output to compete with different main cocoa-producing international locations. Côte d’Ivoire, for example, produces greater than 1.2 million metric tonnes of cocoa yearly, whereas Ghana produces roughly 700,000 metric tonnes. Nigeria was as soon as one of many world’s main cocoa producers. I imagine we are able to return to that place by investing in manufacturing, enhancing farm productiveness, and increasing the nation’s cocoa-growing capability.

PT: With month-to-month electrical energy payments reportedly hitting ₦45 million, how shut is Johnvents to transitioning into a absolutely self-sustained renewable vitality mannequin, and what timeline ought to buyers anticipate for this change?

Mr Alamu: Energy effectivity and the transition to cleaner vitality are strategic priorities for strengthening Johnvents Group’s operational resilience, price effectivity, and environmental efficiency. Given the energy-intensive nature of our processing amenities, we’re taking a phased, site-specific method to figuring out viable renewable vitality options.

As reported in our 2025 Sustainability Report, 39.41% of the Group’s vitality consumption got here from renewable and low-carbon sources. Building on this baseline, we’re dedicated to assessing renewable vitality alternatives throughout our amenities, figuring out energy-efficiency enhancements and evaluating the technical and business feasibility of options resembling solar energy and vitality storage.

In parallel, we’re strengthening our greenhouse fuel accounting by calculating and monitoring our Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions to know our emissions footprint higher, establish key discount alternatives, and monitor progress over time. These insights will assist inform our vitality transition priorities and help the event of a sensible, data-driven decarbonisation roadmap. Our subsequent steps will concentrate on assessing site-level vitality demand, evaluating funding necessities and prioritising initiatives based mostly on their potential to cut back grid dependence, vitality prices and greenhouse fuel emissions.

While we’ve got not but established a definitive timeline for reaching full renewable vitality self-sufficiency, our speedy precedence is to translate this ambition into a structured transition plan with measurable milestones, balancing emissions reductions and long-term price financial savings with the reliability required to maintain our operations. Specific targets and timelines can be communicated because the assessments progress and the implementation roadmap is validated.

PT: Credit assessments have highlighted that a important quantity of working capital is tied up in stock and advance deposits to aggregators. What steps are you taking to, unlock money stream and scale back liquidity pressures through the low season?

Mr Alamu: Our working-capital necessities replicate the seasonal nature of agricultural procurement. During key crop home windows, we strategically safe uncooked supplies to help manufacturing and buyer demand, with that stock subsequently processed, offered, and transformed into money. Managing this cycle successfully is subsequently a elementary a part of our working mannequin. Our focus is on sustaining robust self-discipline throughout your entire cash-conversion cycle, from procurement and stock administration to manufacturing, gross sales and collections. This contains strengthening demand and procurement forecasting, enhancing stock turnover, aligning purchases with manufacturing and gross sales necessities, and sustaining shut oversight of receivables.

Given the seasonality of the enterprise, we additionally search financing buildings which might be appropriately aligned with agricultural procurement cycles and the timing of buyer and export receipts. Our cash-conversion cycle can prolong to roughly 150 days throughout seasonal peaks, whereas buyer collections sometimes happen inside 25 to 40 days. This displays the timing between procurement, processing, cargo,ment and assortment somewhat than a uniform funding requirement all year long.

Our precedence stays to handle this cycle prudently, keep acceptable liquidity, meet our obligations as they fall due, and be sure that our operations are adequately funded to seize alternatives throughout vital procurement intervals. Any particular financing or capital-management initiatives can be communicated in accordance with our accepted monetary disclosures.

PT: Insecurity and farmer displacement are main realities in your sourcing areas. How is Johnvents bodily defending its provide chain and making certain a regular stream of uncooked supplies if vital farming hubs face sudden lockdowns or disruptions?

Mr Alamu: Supply-chain resilience begins with understanding the place our uncooked supplies come from, sustaining robust relationships with suppliers and farmer teams, and avoiding pointless dependence on a single supply or route. Our cocoa sourcing community spans a number of Nigerian states. This multi-origin method provides us choices to evaluate adjustments in native circumstances, topic to crop availability, high quality necessities, and business concerns. We additionally work by means of farmer associations, cooperatives and native shopping for brokers, supported by sourcing and traceability processes. These relationships assist us keep visibility into provide circumstances and reply when volumes, logistics or entry are disrupted. At the operational degree, safety and emergency planning have to be proportionate to the chance and coordinated with related authorities and native stakeholders.

We can not remove the broader safety dangers affecting agricultural communities, and we might not declare that any sourcing mannequin is proof against disruption. Our precedence is to establish rising dangers early, assess various sourcing and logistics choices the place acceptable, and defend the protection of farmers, staff, suppliers and transport companions whereas sustaining accountable procurement.

PT: While your export-heavy mannequin brings in international alternate, it additionally exposes you to intense global commodity-price shocks. What hedging methods do you might have in place to guard Johnvents if global cocoa or cashew costs fall unexpectedly?

Mr Alamu: Commodity-price volatility is a materials danger for any processor or participant working in worldwide agricultural markets. Our method subsequently combines disciplined procurement, shut market monitoring, cautious administration of stock and gross sales commitments, and a clear understanding of the worth publicity at every stage of the buying and selling and processing cycle.

Where export gross sales and enter purchases are denominated in international foreign money, matching exposures and timing will help handle some dangers. Still, it doesn’t remove the affect of sharp actions in global commodity costs. The acceptable instruments rely upon the commodity, contract phrases, market liquidity, and the group’s accepted danger urge for food. We assess exposures and business commitments to hedge danger, defend margins, and protect our capacity to satisfy buyer and provider obligations. Our broader precedence is to handle publicity prudently, keep away from taking dangers that aren’t supported by our working capability, and construct a resilient enterprise throughout market cycles.

PT: Johnvents has set a goal for 100 per cent traceability and authorized sustainable sourcing by 2027. Given your reliance on fragmented impartial aggregators, what is the largest bottleneck holding you again from hitting this deadline?

Mr Alamu: Johnvents has achieved 100 per cent traceability and EUDR compliance throughout the related sourcing scope, representing a important milestone in strengthening provide chain transparency and accountable sourcing. Our progress displays continued funding in farm mapping and geolocation, provider knowledge administration, farmer engagement, and monitoring programs. We now concentrate on sustaining this achievement as our sourcing community and volumes broaden, whereas persevering with to strengthen provider oversight and authorized sustainable sourcing throughout our provide chains. Working with impartial aggregators requires constant knowledge administration, verification, and adherence to accountable sourcing necessities throughout a number of actors and places. Our printed sustainability data additionally highlights progress on this space, together with 122,916 hectares of farmland reported as verified deforestation-free and EUDR-ready in 2025.

Our precedence is to keep up the integrity of our traceability programs, strengthen ongoing verification and advance licensed sustainable sourcing consistent with our 2027 dedication. This will assist be sure that our sourcing practices stay clear, dependable, and aligned with relevant regulatory and sustainability necessities.

PT: Fuel subsidy elimination and meals inflation have elevated transportation prices for smallholder farmers. How is Johnvents making certain these farmers don’t abandon your community for native patrons who might pay money upfront with out requiring strict compliance?

Mr Alamu: Farmer loyalty can’t be secured by asking farmers to soak up rising prices with out help. It depends upon whether or not the connection gives a reliable market, clear necessities and worth over time. Our long-term cocoa programme goals to help 150,000 farmers by 2030, and our present printed disclosures report greater than 40,000 farmer companions throughout our sourcing community.

We are strengthening farmer relationships by means of coaching, entry to seedlings, cooperative and aggregation buildings, traceability help and hyperlinks to markets. Training and clear communication about high quality necessities also can scale back avoidable rejection, delays and prices.

READ ALSO: The lacking hyperlink in Nigeria’s cocoa worth chain, By Ibim Banigo and Raphaël de Perlinghi

Payment phrases and transport preparations are necessary to farmers’ choices, so that they have to be commercially workable and communicated clearly. We shouldn’t promise common farm-gate assortment, transport subsidies or speedy money fee except these preparations can be found for the commodity and site. Our goal is to construct relationships by which accountable sourcing necessities are matched by dependable engagement, clear processes and a credible path to market.

PT: Large-scale cocoa processing faces rising scrutiny over deforestation and monocrop farming. Beyond offering macro-loans, how are you actively imposing agroforestry practices amongst impartial smallholders who lack the capital to shift to climate-smart farming?

Mr Alamu: Our method is to make sustainable farming sensible for smallholders, not merely to set necessities and anticipate farmers to satisfy them with out help. Through our cocoa sustainability programme, we work with farmers on good agricultural practices, climate-smart strategies, farm mapping and traceability. We have distributed greater than 400,000 cocoa and shade bushes since 2022, supporting efforts to enhance farm resilience and encourage tree cowl inside cocoa landscapes.

We have skilled greater than 8,000 in climate-smart agriculture throughout Ondo State, and 122,916 hectares have been verified as deforestation-free and EUDR-ready. We use farm-level data and traceability programs to enhance visibility of sourcing areas and assist establish deforestation dangers. These actions complement engagement with farmer teams and supply-chain companions on accountable sourcing.

Enforcement have to be paired with sensible help. Farmers want steerage on tree administration, soil well being, farm productiveness and compliance, in addition to entry to seedlings and cooperative buildings that may assist them share information and sources. We additionally want to watch implementation and deal with non-compliance by means of our provider and sustainability processes. We recognise that the transition takes time, significantly for farmers with restricted capital, so our goal is to mix clear requirements, monitoring and farmer help somewhat than depend on financing alone.

More pictures: