By Grace Ademulegun
The CEO and co-founder of Ope Farms, Olusola Sowemimo, is a qualified attorney who has worked in human resources for Nigeria LNG Limited for the past ten years.
She etiquette practitioner of the esteemed Minding Manners International Etiquette and Protocol Academy of London. She is a member of the School of Eloquence’s faculty.
Olusola is a business development specialist and consultant with 26 years of diverse experience in the legal, oil and gas (Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas Limited (NLNG)), human resources, and agro-food sectors. She is also a partner with Seyi Sowemimo & Co.
Her areas of expertise include executive coaching, management consulting, organisational development, entrepreneurship, business planning and development, leadership development, and business communication.
Olusola is an Academy of Women Entrepreneurs alumnus. She is well-known and has won numerous accolades for her support of and contributions to the development of organic farming in Nigeria.
She was recently included in Lagos State’s EKO 100 WOMEN list, which honours 100 female entrepreneurs. In addition to attending countless conferences, events, workshops, and training, she has instructed hundreds of individuals in organic farming and served as a panellist at various agriculture and farming programs. She frequently gives keynote addresses at leadership and agribusiness events and is in high demand.
In 2021, Olusola spoke at the World Organic Conference, the African Organic Conference, and the West African Organic Conference. She received the EOA’s (Ecological Organic Agriculture) 2019 Organic Farmer & Processor award.
Her intense desire to lead a healthy lifestyle has led her to pursue another business endeavour: becoming an organic farmer.
To this end, she established Ope Farms, a certified organic farm that is rapidly establishing a solid reputation.
Ope Farms raises livestock and grows vegetables without the use of antibiotics or other synthetic chemicals. For discriminating consumers who favour produce free of chemical residues, they engage in contract farming.
Olusola Sowemimo founded Ope Farms in 2014 with the goal of using Nigeria’s nutrient-rich soil to produce food that would nourish people. The farm, which is certified organic, began producing food in earnest in 2015 with the goal of producing safe and healthful farm products.
The turmeric they grew in 2019 met five international requirements. France 24 and BBC Inside Africa have highlighted the farm.
In addition to producing a variety of food and root crops, they also possess an apiary and a snail farm, as well as native and “exotic” fruits, vegetables, and chickens.
Weekly harvests from the farm are delivered to households, supermarkets, restaurants, juice and smoothie bars, and sandwich shops with a clientele of more than 300. They also produce teas, spices, and dried vegetables under contract for businesses and under their own brand.
They have trained more than 2000 beneficiaries in organic farming and served as Master Trainers for the Training of the Trainers of Trainers (ToTo) at the Knowledge Centre for Organic Agriculture for West Africa, which was organised by the Association of Organic Practitioners of Nigeria (NOAN) and the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movement (IFOAM).
As a mentor to prospective farmers and supporter of organic farming, Sowemimo encourages more people to pursue sustainable agriculture as a means of advancing Nigeria’s agricultural industry and enhancing public health. Her initiatives demonstrate the link between sustainable farming methods, community well-being, and environmental sustainability.