Snail farming in Nigeria is one of the most lucrative agricultural business ideas for young entrepreneurs in Nigeria. Snail farming is a practical and viable business venture that is yet to be fully explored in Nigeria and the rest of Africa.
Snail farming is one of the top interesting business opportunities in Africa. West Africa is home to the largest species of land snail in the world. The Giant African land snail (Achatina species), is known to grow up to 30cm in length and can be found in the dense tropical rain forests across the region from Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Ghana to Nigeria. The meat of snail is very rich in protein, iron and calcium. The fat and cholesterol levels in snail meat are low. The ROI for snail farming is higher compared to other micro-livestock animals. There are potentials for exportation to foreign countries. The cultural acceptability is higher in Nigeria and most countries.
Snail Farming Edible Snails
Snail farming may not be the first thing that jumps to mind when thinking of profitable businesses to start in Nigeria. This post will open your eyes to the amount of hidden-wealth that can be realized by starting a snail farming business in Nigeria.
Why Snail Farming?
The market opportunity for snail farming in Nigeria and in Africa is huge but grossly underrated. Snails are a huge part of the diet in many parts of Africa, although they are not always affordable and available all year round. If you rear snail in commercial quantity, hotels, and fast food restaurants will be your regular customers.
In Nigeria, the prices of raw, matured snails go for N250 to N600 depending on the size. However, the annual demand for snail in Nigeria is about 7.5million kg annually. The international trade in snails is flourishing in Europe and North America. The United State America imports more than $4million worth of snails annually from all over the world, including Nigeria.
For many years now, snails handpicked from the farm or bush has been the only way to get snails to the market and dinner table. Currently, the demand for snail is higher than the supplies, an indication that the market potential of snail is inexhaustible, locally and internationally. Starting both small and large scale snail farming businesses in the only way to fill up the spaces between the demand for snail and its supply in Africa.
Total annihilation core contingency download. Also Read: Most Lucrative Agricultural And Farming Business Ideas In Nigeria.
5 Steps To Starting A Snail Farm In Nigeria
If it has worked elsewhere, it will work in Nigeria. Below are the five basic steps you need to follow to start a profitable snail farming business in Nigeria.
Step 1 – Decide which species of snail to farm.
When creating a snail farm, you'll have to use a single species of snail. Research has shown that snail species such as Achatina achatina are the best for warm climate regions like Africa.
Step 2 – Set-up your farmland for housing.
Yamaha dgx 220 midi driver for mac. Your snail housing must have enough space for your snails to graze freely. Overcrowding your snailery impedes the development of snails and therefore should be avoided. A well-spaced snail housing reduces the risk of disease outbreak caused by overcrowding.
Snails are good at escaping from where they are kept, so you should endeavour to construct escape proof housing. You can use a pen house that will be spacious and accessible with a soil depth of 10 inches and trees around it.
Step 3 – Purchase your snails
If you want to start a snail farm, you'll need to get snails. After setting-up proper housing and farmland for the snails, it's time to buy some fresh quality snails from the market or any farm. It's always best to be able to examine the snails before you buy them so that you know they are healthy.
When you first start your snail farm, you'll want to get healthy, fully grown snails that will lay eggs and help populate your farm. Look at the shell of the snail. If there is a lip, that means they are a fully grown snail.
Also Read: How To Start A Profitable Business In Nigeria.
Step 4 – Feeding and rearing of the snails
Snails are vegetarians and can be fed with wide varieties of foods such as cabbage, cucumber, mango, banana, eggplant, pear, tomato and paw-paw, cassava, okra leaves or lettuce. However, you can as well feed snails with pineapple, banana or paw paw.
Mating and laying eggs are a vital part of snail farming. Typically, mating occurs during spring and summer. As hermaphrodites, snails can fertilize each other as soon as they are mature enough. In order for the egg laying to go over smoothly, you should use high-quality soil with the right temperature and humidity.
Snail Farming Manual Pdf
Step 5 – Harvesting and selling of the snails
It is not economically wise to harvest your snails before it's maturity, it has to be mature before harvesting. Do not harvest all the matured snails at once to sell in the market. It is important to keep few for breeding and to serve as base stock for your snail farm.
Snail has good market demand and price. You can easily sell the snails in the local market. Snail meat consuming rate is growing very fast around the globe. Refx nexus free mac. So, exporting in the international market can make you more money.
Cost of Starting A Snail Farming Business
The mandatory expenses you need to account for if you're wondering how to set up a snail farm include: housing, buying fresh snails, feeding, handling and processing the snails, marketing, and transportation.
You can start the business with N60,000 or N100,000 depending on how large you want your snail farm to be. Asides the amount of your investment, it is possible to produce 1,000,000 snails now worth more than N5 million twice a year.
Also Read: How to Write a Business Proposal for Clients in Nigeria.
This is made possible because of the availability of very highly prolific Achatina achatina species of snails, which lay 200 – 400 in one batch two-three times a year. If you produce 100,000 snails that sell for N250 each, which is N250 X 100,000, you will be making N2,500,000. You will be making N25,000,000 per annum or more than that if you produce 1,000,000 snails.
For beginners, creating a snail farming business plan is a crucial step that needs to be accomplished before starting. This will give you a deep understanding of everything that needs to be done.
Conclusion
In terms of cost and time, snail farming is a low-risk business. Unlike many other livestock businesses, snail farming requires very little startup and operating costs. You can even set up your snail farm at the backyard of your house to save cost on the purchase of farmland.
The best time to start up a snail farming is the rainy season especially from July to October because that is the time snails normally start to breed. You should also note that prices of snails multiply during scarcity between March and December, which is the dry season.
Integrated training programs for the management and the operation of a snail breeding unit with the Curtain Method.
PROGRAMM TITLE:
1.Integrated Training Program for the organization and the management of a snail breeding unit.
The need for providing the said program is to teach the participants the theoretical and the practical training of the snail breeding methods, the marketing and the consulting services, so that the trainees will develop their skills and be more successful in the operation and the management of a snail breeding unit. The educational training takes place at the snail breeding units of Touchstone Snails in Troulloi village, in Larnaca, Cyprus, of a total surface area of 5000m2 and at the offices of Touchstone Snails in Larnaca, Cyprus.
PROGRAMM TITLE:
2. ERASMUS-Training Program for the organization and the management of a snail breeding unit.
Snail Farming Helix Aspersa
Touchstone Snails offers educational programs to professional snail breeders, through the ERASMUS program. The training takes place at the snail breeding units of Touchstone Snails with a total surface area of 5000m2, in Troulloi village, in Larnaca, Cyprus and at the company's offices in Larnaca, Cyprus.
This program is is being offered through the ERASMUS to those who are interested to improve their level of knowledge through the European Educational and Training Programmes. Moreover, the ERASMUS program concerns individuals and/or organized groups that aim to expand their knowledge on the breeding of snails.
The fact that the trainees move from one country to the other and they expose themselves to other cultures not only enriches their knowledge and experiences, but also prepares them for a working world that requires flexibility and adaptability, strengthening the workforce in Europe.
PROGRAMM TITLE:
3.Educational trips for primary and secondary school children
Snail Farming Manual
Touchstone Snails offers a unique educational journey into the magical world of snails. It offers a unique experience by giving you the chance to visit the ultra modern snail breeding units of the company.The educational trips to the snail breeding units are a necessary complement to students' education as these trips, give to the children the opportunity to contact with the natural world, to get informed about the special educational and nutritional value of the snails, to learn about the human achievements in the snail breeding sector after many years of experiments and working experience, thus gaining unique experiences. These field trips take place at the snail breeding units of Touchstone in an area of 5000m2, in Troulloi village, in Larnaca, Cyprus.
Service Center
Our Service center is committed to provide quality services and useful information. Assistance is provided to matters such as for obtaining visas, assistance for transportation and accommodation issues, about the feeding and general assistance to anything that a trainee may need during his/her visit in Cyprus and during the education course.
