Oluwayimika Angel Adelaja: the Pacesetter of Organic Farming in Urban Nigeria

“You may not be able to change the world but you can change your world” it is said that food is an essential need and I can’t disagree. The need is not special to one but everyone that needs food to gain nutrient, survive and thrive. Can food ever be enough? Well, we wouldn’t get this answer accurately because someone has come to save the situation. Let me introduce you to:

Oluwayimika Angel Adelaja

Oluwayimika Angel Adelaja was born on August 17, 1983 in London, England. She moved to the United States with her parents at the age of 3. She attended Math and Science charter school. She also attended Temple University where she received her Bachelor’s Degree. She has a PhD in Epidemiology from Michigan State University.

Angel Adelaja is an innovator, a community and change developer who formulates inclusive growth strategies for governments and organizations. She focuses on women and youth empowerment. Angel utilizes grass roots campaigns, technology, and innovation to assist these groups in solving global issues.

In Nigeria, Oluwayimika Angel Adelaja is providing innovative solutions to the acute food shortage. She is Co-Founder of WeFarmAfrica.org and CEO/Founder of Fresh Direct Produce and Agro-Allied Services bringing communities together with agricultural technologies to strengthen agricultural value chain. Adelaja has pioneered stackable container farms that reduce the stress on land use and the need to import vegetables, in addition to helping urban populations gain access to high quality food. Adelaja’s organic urban farms use less water and land than traditional farming methods and produce 15 times higher product yield.

Oluwayimika Angel Adelaja wears another hat as owner, Zahara Empresa, an Abuja-based mega spa and salon. She has served as Technical Assistant and Research Consultant to the Director General of the Office of Economic Development and Partnership in the Office of the Governor of the State of Osun (consultancy ongoing), Special Assistant to the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Poverty Alleviation and National Coordinator of the National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) and Consultant to the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Wealth Creation.

In school, Angel became the first community service chairperson for the Organization of African Students. Her duty as a community service chairperson includes setting up events that would become an outreach to the surrounding Philadelphia community in addition to teaching the diverse African cultures. While still an undergraduate, Angel also served as a Resident advisor to new in-coming students.

Her work:

Angel has handled several roles as follows:

From May 2001 – August 2001, she was a Laboratory Intern at the Department of Molecular Neuropsychiatry, National Insitute on Drug Abuse at National Institutes of Health.

She was a Research Assistant and Pre-doctoral Fellow at Michigan State University from August 2006 – December 2007 and September 2007 – December 2010 respectively.

Between June 2013 – October 2014, she was the Special Assistant to the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Poverty Alleviation and National Coordinator of the National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP).

From October 2014 – December 2014, Angel was the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Wealth Creation.

In October 2009, she became the President/Co-founder at UNIHIV. UNIHIV is an organization that promotes HIV/AIDS awareness and garners support in the community. The word UNI, meaning ‘ONE’ and the word HIV simulate the fact that we are ‘ONE’ in this cause as we educate and promote the awareness of this disease which affects all races, ages and gender.

In May 2014, She founded Fresh Direct Produce and Agro-Allied Services; an indigenous agricultural production and processing company. The company brings communities and advanced technology together. This is aimed at providing exquisitely grown organic fruits, vegetables, meats and processed end products. The goal is to create pathways to entice other young people into profitable agricultural ventures, empower them with employment and finally strengthen them to also be successful future employers of labor.

Angel is also the co-founder of “We Farm Africa”; a Not for Profit agricultural organization that focuses on collective action to ensuring a better future for Africa through sustainable agriculture.

Now, it wasn’t all rosy and smooth;

After trying her hands on traditional agriculture, she faced a number of challenges, including securing a land, accessing to technology, transport, investing in infrastructure and a host of others. As a result of too many challenges, she chose to make it easier with urban farming.

Adelaja founded Fresh Direct in 2014, with a goal to make agriculture easy and fun for young people, empower them with employment and strengthen them to also be successful employers of labor.

The company is also developing and managing Urban Farm Campuses as Nigeria’s first truly “urban farm” with its Fresh Direct Container Farms. According to Adelaja, “this is the solution that youths are looking for. It’s not back breaking, it’s fun, and there’s less set up costs compared to rural agriculture. Plus, there’s no headache getting produce to market when growing in the city.

Customers such as luxury hoteliers, restaurants, supermarkets and specialty stores are looking to source these highly perishable products from reputable providers without having to source foreign exchange. This is where they come in”.

Adelaja is looking to onboard 10,000 youth in areas that cut across agriculture and urban farming, distribution, sales/marketing, agric-tech and automation, expand the business across Africa and position it to be a solution for high quality premium produce.

Vertical farming and hydroponics, her innovative solutions to food shortage, aid in strengthening the agricultural value chain and create opportunities for Africans. Her projects are especially aimed at young people, with her personal mission to make agriculture fun for them taking centre stage. In her spare time, Adelaja focuses on developmental economics and empowering women.