How an American aviation entrepreneur is changing the narrative of rural healthcare in Nigeria, one hospital at a time — Part II

From rural abundance to rural prosperity: The agricultural opportunity in Egbe

Egbe, like most rural communities in Nigeria, has not made much progress in improving livelihoods, rural infrastructure or the quality of life of rural dwellers since Nigeria’s independence in 1960. You are twice as likely to be poor if you live in rural Nigeria as you are if you live in urban Nigeria.

And yet, Nigeria’s rural areas are a lush paradise, where crops, livestock, vegetables and fruits are produced in abundance to feed the cities.

As a young child in the early 1970s, my parents drove two or three times a year from Kainji, New Bussa—currently in Niger State—where I was born and lived until I went to high school in Egbe, to Ibadan, Oyo State, to shop for school supplies and Christmas and to visit friends and relatives.

There was a town called Fiditi between Oyo and Ibadan that was known for its abundance of fruits. We always stopped there to buy fruits and foodstuffs for acquaintances in Ibadan and for ourselves on our way home. The same could be said of many towns along the Ilorin-Ibadan highway.

So why are communities that produce abundant food languishing in excruciating poverty despite the strong and growing markets of a populous and rapidly growing country?

The answer is all around us across the entire continent.

African agriculture suffers from low productivity—often only about one-third of the global average for many crops—and is disconnected from processing hubs and packing houses because of weak value-added chains. Farmers face a lack of reliable energy, digital connectivity, rural roads and storage infrastructure. They…