Despite Nigeria’s growing demand for coconuts, the industry remains underdeveloped. Farmers depend on crude, dangerous tools, women carry the burden of processing and selling, and 70% of coconuts consumed in Nigeria are still imported from neighbouring countries.

Jacob Oluwayanmife Abiodun, a mechanical engineering graduate from the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), never planned to work in agriculture, but he stumbled into this overlooked sector. What began as a reluctant final-year project became the foundation of Coconoto, his Lagos-based agritech startup. Today, Jacob is building machines that process coconuts faster and safer, converting husks into eco-friendly products, and connecting rural farmers to broader markets. 

In this in-depth interview with AgroCentric Africa, Jacob opens up about his journey, detailing his life’s work, setbacks, and the vision driving Nigeria’s coconut revolution. 

Who is Jacob Oluwayanmife Abiodun? What do you do?

I’m an innovator and young entrepreneur, a graduate of Mechanical Engineering from the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA). I’m the founder of Coconoto, and I’ve always loved solving problems.

Coconoto started as my final-year project, where I developed a coconut dehusking machine that could process at least 150 coconuts per hour. Today, that small project has grown into a company working to transform the coconut value chain in Nigeria.

You studied Mechanical Engineering. What led you to coconuts specifically?

Honestly, it all started with my internship at Guinness Nigeria PLC. Back then, like most classmates, my dream was to enter the oil and gas sector. But at Guinness, I saw how automation and industrialisation kept operations efficient. It shifted my interest toward industrial engineering solutions. In 2019, my project supervisor at FUTA encouraged me to solve a real-life problem, not just build for grades. He told me, “Why don’t you look at the coconut value chain? Nobody is innovating there.”

At first, I wasn’t interested. Funding was a big challenge, and I wasn’t sure how to build such a machine. I thought I’d only do the theoretical research, market studies, and problem analysis. But I posted about it on LinkedIn while trying to raise funds, and Greenpeg Engineering in Lagos saw it. Their business developer was interested, and they funded my project. That support made it possible to build the prototype instead of just writing a report.

So that first machine was your school project. What happened after that?

Yes. After I built it, I showcased it at S2P Africa, a competition for student innovators. At that time, the machine could only do 150 coconuts per hour. I had only images and short videos of it, since my school wouldn’t allow me to take the machine out. Still, we became one of the top winners and got $500 in funding, $300 cash and $200 in material support. I reinvested all that into building a better version, aiming for 500–900 coconuts per hour.

In 2022, I entered the MasterCard AgroHack Challenge at Lagos Business School. I met my mentor, Dr. Helen Emore, who taught me how to build a business model there. Before then, my work was just an engineering solution. By the end of the program, we came third and received more funding, which went straight into further research and development.

That period was tough. I lived in Ikorodu but had to travel regularly to Badagry for research. At the same time, I was serving in Abeokuta for my NYSC. Juggling service, travel, research, and building was exhausting, but we kept pushing.

Getting materials must have been a considerable challenge. How did you source them?

It was a big challenge, yes. Since it was research and development (R&D), I had to rely mostly on locally sourced materials. I’d buy and test a material; if it failed, I would replace it with another option. I had already done structural analysis with SolidWorks and ANSYS, so I understood the stress of coconuts and the strength of materials needed. That gave me confidence.

In Lagos, I tried working with fabricators. Out of the five I approached, four refused; they weren’t interested in something new. One agreed and gave it his best. I went to Owode Onirin market,  a popular scrap metal and motor hub, to support him. For example, importing an electric motor was too expensive, so I bought used ones there. We had to step them down from 90 RPM to 45 RPM to suit the machine. That improvisation was key.

While researching, what problems did you find in the coconut value chain?

The problems are many. Number one is the issue of the technology gap. Farmers in Badagry still use crude methods. The poor use chisels and cutlasses; bigger farmers use leg-pedal spikes. Both are slow and dangerous; if you miss and your hand slips, it’s gone. There is a gender burden. Women do most of the dehusking and selling. After harvesting, men often leave the hard work to women. Many women told me they couldn’t access larger markets because they live in remote villages. 

There is also waste mismanagement, where the husks are dumped or sold cheaply to fish smokers in coastal Badagry. I visited one farm completely covered with discarded husks. An Indian operator sometimes burns shells into biochar, but the method produces heavy smoke and pollutes the environment. We have the issue of access to the market, where farmers had no system to connect with buyers outside Badagry. Many were stuck with coconuts, and they couldn’t sell profitably.

I visited 12 communities, including Apa, Aradagun, and Iyana Yafin, often with an interpreter to bridge language barriers. That’s when I realised Coconoto shouldn’t just build machines; we also had to create a platform connecting farmers to markets, and design solutions for waste. That’s how CocoCycle Hub was born. Today, we convert husks into coco peat and fibre. We’re also working on machines that transform fibre into biodegradable coco pots as an alternative to plastic, and shells into briquette charcoal through sustainable pyrolysis.

Convincing farmers must have been difficult. How did you earn their trust?

It all starts with you. Credibility and humility matter first. How credible are you, and how humble are you? Since I’m very young, I often remind myself of this because I interact with people old enough to be fathers and grandfathers. The first thing I had to do was humble myself. The challenge was tough. Communication was one of the difficulties I faced, and another was that I’m not from Badagry and don’t live there. That was also a barrier at some point. But I discovered that the people of Badagry are very welcoming when they see that you’re genuinely trying to solve a problem for them. When you show them you can add value, they are open.

The real question became: how humble and transparent can you communicate what you’re bringing them? That’s why I decided not to approach farmers directly at first. Instead, I went through stakeholders in the community who could understand me. I also attended some of their events, like the Agunke (Coconut) Festival in 2023. Badagry wasn’t the only place I focused on. I also worked in Ikorodu with people who, even though not primarily farmers, had coconuts and were selling them. That was where we tested our machine for the first time. Interestingly, we didn’t even test the dehusking machine in Badagry; we tested it in Ikorodu with coconut plantation owners, who eventually became our first customers. Unfortunately, after my accident last year, we had to stop using the dehusking machine. This caused a setback in our operations for a while.

The accident: What caused it, and how did it affect operations?

In October 2024, while testing, I had an accident with the machine. I won’t share full details, but it was bad enough to hospitalise me for a month and keep me out of work for three months. Because of that, we pulled the machine from service and redesigned it for safety. It was tough, but necessary. We resumed operations this January with a new team and stronger systems. 

What impact has Coconoto had up to this point?

The impact has been encouraging. Talking about job creation, about 30 people are indirectly employed, from boys packing husks to fabricators to marketers. Farmers can now earn from waste. We buy husks at ₦300 per bag, turning trash into value. Instead of polluting heaps, husks are now inputs for coco peat, fibre, and briquette charcoal.

There is also a productivity boost. Manual methods process 40 coconuts in 70–90 minutes. With our machine, farmers process 240–400 coconuts per hour. Young people now see opportunities in coconut farming. Even our fabricators sometimes subcontract youths to assist, giving them new skills. We have also planted 50 coconut trees on our land in Badagry, contributing to sustainability.

Coconoto has won recognition through programs like Lagos Agrithon 2024. How has this helped?

Immensely. R&D is expensive; you can spend millions and still fail. Support from competitions like Lagos Agrithon 2024, Orange Corners Nigeria, and TotalEnergies has kept us going. For example, funding allowed us to move from 2kg/day to 200kg/day. We also patented two machines, which wouldn’t have been accepted if they weren’t functional. We now operate from a proper facility in Ikorodu, though our Badagry land remains central to our farming.

Nigeria recently announced plans to double coconut production. What does this mean for you?

It’s a huge step. Nigeria imports 70% of its coconuts from Ghana, Togo, and Benin. Scaling local production will benefit not only us but all farmers and processors. Coconuts can potentially transform Nigeria’s economy, just as cocoa and palm oil did.

Do you believe that Nigeria has the potential to meet international standards in the technology sector?

Absolutely. Nigeria has brilliant youths in both software and hardware. The main barriers are funding and focus. Too often, people only recognise software as “tech,” ignoring hardware innovations like ours. But if supported, Nigeria can compete globally. I’ve seen robotics projects from Nigerian students that the world doesn’t know about.

What’s next for Coconoto?

Several things. We have our CocoCycle Hub, where we’ve built machines that convert husks into cocopots and fibre. Another machine, soon to be rolled out, will convert that fibre into coco pots as an alternative to plastic on farms. In recent months, we’ve also been working on a sustainable process to convert shells into briquette charcoal instead of biochar. We plan to use a pyrolyser system, which burns the shells without oxygen, captures carbon and prevents pollution. This process still produces biochar but can also be turned into briquettes, which are cleaner, longer-lasting, and more eco-friendly than regular charcoal.

I’m sure that in the next few months, we will still be getting our feet together and doing a lot. Part of what we do to position ourselves in the market is going to exhibitions. We came up with a new product called Coco-Drink-Eat. The goal of that project is that for every event or exhibition we attend with our de-shelling machine, we de-shell coconuts and give people a unique experience where they can drink the water and eat the flesh.

I’m just curious, how big is the machine?

It’s about four feet in height, three and a half feet wide, and weighs around 100 kg. It’s not so big, but quite weighty. We transport it in our vehicle. At every event, we de-shell coconuts for people to drink, which gives us visibility and shows that we fabricated this machine here.

In our recent engagement at the LSETF Agric Business Pop-Market, processors who had never seen such technology came around. They were impressed and immediately interested, and we started getting orders. Some wanted us to supply them immediately, but we prefer to fabricate them per order to be sure the customer truly needs them. This is something we keep doing to build market demand. For our coco peat, we’ve also been doing well with online marketing and working with farmers. The main challenge is meeting demand due to limited capacity tied to the electricity supply. 

When we started operations, we used a single-phase connection. Now we need to move to a three-phase system and are expecting Ikeja Electric to provide a prepaid meter so we can scale up production. Aside from that, we’ve been making sales and growing steadily. We are active in several farming communities and groups, especially those practising soilless agriculture. We also go to homes and organisations to train people on using coconut for planting, even indoors. Whenever I’m invited as a guest speaker, I do a practical demonstration. I bring a sample bag, prepare the materials, and show them how coco peat works. They often return to buy more once they see the plants grow. 

We promote our products on LinkedIn and Instagram and plan to expand to TikTok soon. Once we roll out our cocopot alongside the Coco-Drink-Eat, you’ll see even more practical uses for these products.

Finally, what advice do you have for young entrepreneurs and agripreneurs?

My first advice to young people is: humble yourself. Nobody can grow as an entrepreneur in Nigeria without humility. There’s no blueprint to getting it right. The only people you can learn from are those already in your space, even if they’re not innovative. That’s why you’re coming in as an entrepreneur.

The second thing is to position yourself in networks, with people who can help you grow, show you how to structure your business model, and connect you to funding. I’m grateful to people like Femi Adekoya (Flying Farmer), Dr. Helen Emore, and my supervisor, Dr. Akinuli, at FUTA. Whenever I faced challenges, they guided me to the best next step. 

I was also a beneficiary of Orange Corners Nigeria, where I served as deputy chairman. Many people there had already run businesses, and anytime I reached out, they advised me on the next decision to take. That’s why networks matter. Even if you are a founder, you are still young and can learn from those with more experience. So humble yourself, position yourself in the right circles, and build a strong business model.

Most importantly, solve the right problem with a ready market willing to pay. Your solution may be amazing, but you need to adapt a new strategy if nobody pays for it. I started with dehusking. It’s still important, but today it’s not my priority. What sustains us is coco peat, which I never imagined at first. So, have a business model, solve the right problem, and build something you can grow from.

Thank you, Jacob. Connect with him on LinkedIn to see how Coconoto is transforming Nigeria’s coconut value chain and building a sustainable future for Nigeria.