6 Reasons why Snail Farming is highly profitable in Nigeria
Snail farming is one of the very lucrative and great money-making businesses around. What many people fail to realize is that there is no reason to be wallowing in hunger and poverty when there are many money-spinning businesses at everyone’s fingertips – so much profitable businesses to get one’s hands busy in Nigeria. On the other hand, people are recently rushing to farming in Nigeria while ignorantly neglecting this aspect of animal rearing which ironically happens to be the best form of farming that requires little start-up capital and effort but bring great returns of investments.
6 Reasons why Snail Farming is highly profitable in Nigeria
Many people still believe that snail can only be hand-picked in the bush during the raining season, not knowing that it could be domesticated, reared and sold – as a full-time, profitable and highly lucrative enterprise. Some have ventured into the business of snail farming in the past but because they didn’t seek proper knowledge, they were unable to make any reasonable profit in the business and so they concluded that the business is not a good one.
The experts have noted that snail farming could yield a quick profit if the farmers understood the essentials of modern techniques and focused on the species in high demand in Nigeria. It is very essential to know that snail farming requires less capital and space compared to poultry and pig farming and the management practices involved in snail farming are far simpler. Furthermore, snail farming could be practiced as a secondary occupation because it requires less time to maintain while their feed is cheap and can be locally sourced. The snails’ foods include leaves, tubers, vegetables as well as farm and household wastes. Snail also has a great market all over the country and in the West African sub-region. Domestic snail farming in Nigeria can meet up the family nutritional demands. Commercial snail production can decrease the importation of frozen meat or fish from foreign countries and this can save money and make the economy of Nigeria strong very strong and formidable.
Let us look at some of the reasons why snail farming is highly profitable in Nigeria
- High demand for snail meat
This is a primary factor in any business – demand. The market opportunity for snail farming in Nigeria is as snails are a huge part of diet for a vat number of people in many parts of Nigeria and Africa at large. If you rear snail in commercial quantity, hotels, and fast-food restaurants, beer palours, pepper soup joints, etc. will be your regular customers. 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. Lately, with greater consumer awareness of the implications of high cholesterol levels in the blood and the possible association with increased incidence of heart attacks, cardiovascular and other chronic diseases, the demand for snail meat in the local and international market has been growing.
- Low start-up cost
Starting a snail farming business is relatively cheaper that what is obtains in many other types of livestock farming. In terms of cost and time, snail farming is a low risk business and profitable unlike many other livestock businesses, snail farming requires very little start up and operating costs. Someone can start with N50,000 or even less depending on the size of your farm, capital at hand and your profitability projections.
6 Reasons why Snail Farming is highly profitable in Nigeria
- Low running cost
In the snail farming business, you don’t have to incur debts or break your bank because you want to run a farm. Most of the daily requirements to run a snail farm successfully are things that are graciously produced by nature. Things like the snails’ food for instance, are basically leaves, fruits or herbs that can be locally sourced, things that can be easily found around for free. Another important requirement for the daily running of the snail farm is water. Apart from the snails’ feed which is available for sale at very cheap and affordable rates, many of what can be used to feed your snails are most usually household wastes.
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- Snail farming is very easy
Snail farming is very easy and anybody can do it. It requires minimal daily efforts to keep the farm afloat. If you are a lazy person who love to do just very little to get by, and does not really want a hard of difficult life, snail farming might just be an option for you to consider. Depending on the size of your farm and the total numbers of snails that you have to attend to on a daily basis, you may be spending anything between 30 minutes to 2 hours per day on the farm for all the activities that are daily required to keep the farm afloat.
- Relatively high selling cost
In Nigeria, the prices of raw, matured snails go for between N300 to N700 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.
One reason why potential investors and farmers are encouraged to seriously consider snail farming business is because the profitability thereof skyrockets during the dry season. During this period, snail becomes increasingly scarce and the market is starved of constant supply until the next wet season. This makes the supply of snails very seasonal in many parts of world where they serve as food. As a result, snails can fetch much higher prices during the dry season. At this time, farmers make twice as much profit selling their snails because of the demand-supply deficit that is usually experienced during the dry season. When you start your own snail business you should focus on the seasonal feature of this market. Grow the snails using the best feeding and breeding practices and make sure you have enough supply during the dry season. This way, you can sell your product at better prices and earn more.
- A wide variety of usefulness
Many people eat snails as part of their healthy eating plan because snail meat contains a high amount of protein, iron, calcium, magnesium, vitamin A and it is very low in fat and low in cholesterols. It offers the right amounts of organic compounds the human body needs. Besides being a popular delicacy offered in Nigerian hotels, bars, and restaurants, giant snails are widely used in medicine and cosmetic industry. Snail pie is recommended as a cheap source of protein and iron for school-age children and there a very sharp rise in the use of snail pie among young mothers and those who contribute to the fight against iron deficiency anemia. These other dimensions of usefulness are one of the key factors responsible for its lucrativeness and profitability.
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