For young Nigerian entrepreneurs, one of the most profitable agricultural business ventures is snail farming. In Nigeria and the rest of Africa, snail farming is a useful and profitable business opportunity that has not yet received enough attention.
Perhaps the last thing that comes to mind when considering successful ventures to launch in Nigeria is snail farming. Your eyes will be opened by this post to the extent of hidden money that may be attained in Nigeria by launching a snail farming enterprise.
Snail farming in Nigeria and throughout Africa has a massive yet greatly underestimated business opportunity. In many regions of Africa, snails represent an important element of the diet, even if they aren’t always readily available or inexpensive. Fast food chains and hotels will be among your frequent clients if you grow snails in commercial quantities.
Matured snails in Nigeria can cost anywhere from N250 to N600, depending on their size. On the other hand, Nigeria consumes over 7.5 million kg of snails yearly. Europe and North America are experiencing a boom in the international trade of snails. Every year, the United States imports snails valued at over $4 million from various parts of the globe, including Nigeria.
Snails that are hand-selected from the farm or bush have been the sole method to reach the market and dinner table for a number of years. The fact that there is currently a greater demand for snails than there are supply shows how endless the snail industry might be, both domestically and globally. The only option to close the gaps in Africa’s supply of snails and demand is to launch small- and large-scale snail farming operations.
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5 Steps To Starting A Snail Farm In Nigeria
Step 1 – Decide which species of snail to farm.
You are only allowed to utilise one species of snail when starting a snail farm. According to research, warm-climate locations like Africa are the ideal habitat for snail species like Achatina achatina.
Step 2 – Set-up your farmland for housing.
Enough room must exist in your snail space for your snails to go about freely. It is best to avoid overcrowding your snailery since this will hinder the snails’ growth. An epidemic of sickness brought on by overpopulation is less likely in snail housing that is spaced properly.
Since snails are adept at getting out of their enclosures, you should try to build housing that is escape-proof. You can use a pen house that has trees surrounding it and a soil depth of 10 inches. It should be roomy and easily accessible.
Step 3 – Purchase your snails
You will need to purchase snails if you wish to launch a snail farm. It’s time to purchase some fresh, high-quality snails from the market or any farm after providing the snails with suitable housing and farmland. To ensure the snails are healthy, it’s important to be able to inspect them before purchasing.
You should purchase healthy, mature snails that can lay eggs and contribute to the population of your farm when you initially establish your own snail farm. Examine the snail’s shell. They are a fully developed snail if they have a lip.
Step 4 – Feeding and rearing of the snails
Being vegetarians, snails may eat a broad range of foods, including lettuce, cassava, okra leaves, cabbage, cucumbers, mangoes, bananas, eggplants, pear, tomatoes, and paw-paws. But you may also feed snails paw paw, pineapple, or banana.
An essential component of snail farming is mating and egg-laying. Mating usually takes place in the spring and summer. Since snails are hermaphrodites, they can fertilise one another as soon as they reach a certain maturity. To ensure a smooth egg laying process, utilise high-quality soil that is the proper temperature and humidity.
Step 5 – Harvesting and selling of the snails
Snails must reach maturity before being harvested; it is not financially prudent to harvest them before then. To sell in the market, don’t gather all the adult snails at once. A small number should be retained for breeding purposes and to act as basic stock for your snail farm.
Snail has a favorable pricing and market demand. Snails are easily sold in the neighbourhood market. Worldwide, the rate at which people are ingesting snail meat is rising quickly. Consequently, you may increase your income by exporting to other markets.
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Cost of Starting A Snail Farming Business
If you’re wondering how to start a snail farm, you must budget for the following necessary costs: housing, purchasing fresh snails, feeding, caring for and processing the snails, marketing, and transportation.
N60,000 or N100,000 can be used to launch your business, depending on the size of your intended snail farm. Regardless of the amount you invest, you may now generate one million snails, valued at about N5 million, twice a year.
The availability of the extremely prolific Achatina achatina species of snails, which lay 200–400 in a single batch two–three times a year, makes this possible. Producing 100,000 snails at a price of N250 apiece, or N250 x 100,000, will net you N2,500,000. If you generate one million snails a year, you will make N25,000,000 or more.
Making a business strategy is an essential first step for those who are new to the practise of snail farming. You’ll have a thorough grasp of all that has to be done as a result.
