Snails are common shell creatures we find in our backyards, especially during the rainy season. They are very sensitive to sunlight, dehydration and would always live in places where you have vegetation. Snails may look dispensable,but they can be a huge source of wealth.
Research has shown that this common creature could provide much needed nutrition for people living in developing countries like Nigeria, where inexpensive sources of protein are hard to come by. According to a study published in the International Journal of Food Safety, Nutrition and Public Health - snail meat may actually be superior to beef in terms of nutritional value and taste acceptability.
There are several kinds of snails all over the world. They include Achatina achatina, Achatina marginata (Nigerian specie) and Achatina fulica which is the type found in tropical Africa.
Fortunately, it is possible to breed snails from home. Are you thinking of a business you can start with low risk and stream of income attached to it, then you may consider backyard snail farming. The high volume sale recorded by snail traders, weekly in Lagos alone, is an indication that consumption rate is high which makes it a business goldmine.
About Backyard Snail Farming
One can breed or rear snails (either for home consumption or commercial purposes) from the backyard. It's all about artificial creation of a natural environment for snails to thrive. The process of farming or raising land snails specifically for human consumption is called Heliculture. Snails naturally thrive best in a good moist loamy soil, and cool vegetation.
When you have a lush green vegetable garden. (a good soil that contains 20%-40% organic matter), at home and you have particular trees such as banana, plantain,
coconut, etc that provide shade, then you can easily stock the garden with snails dividing them into pens.
What a Snail Pen Is
Farm animals are usually kept in pens so as to restrict their movement. A good snail pen enables the breeder to monitor his or her stock at all times with ease. So, a snail pen is just a single fence-in area which restricts the movement of snails and protects them. It can be built using corrugated sheet metals, fine-mesh chicken wire or woven plant material from split bamboo.
Usually, a snail pen would always be free of weeds or overgrown grasses. It must have shelter plants like plantain, coconut, banana, pineapple, pawpaw to provide shade.
The pens are constructed in various sizes depending on your land space. Depending on the size available to you, you can have: 1m x 1m, 1.5m x 1m, 5m x 5m or 10m x 5m. With a 1m x 1m pen space, you can comfortable stock 50 giant snails.
The Need to Grow Shelter Plants
What are shelter plants? They are plants that provide cool shade or serve as windbreakers in a snail pen. They are source extra food for the snails to aid quick growth. Snails can choose what to eat from any of the shelter plants. Some common shelter plants are banana tree, plantain tree, oil palm, pawpaw, coconut tree. These shelter plants overtime helps to suppress the growth of weeds and grasses in the pen. When there's excessive rain, they climb and hide under the plants.
Reason Snails Are Highly Consumed
The very nutritious snails are big and are in high demand. Consumers (especially in highbrow areas) who know the worth go for them because they are very high in protein and low in saturated fat when compared to the regular beef. Snails are a good source of vitamin E, vitamin A, vitamin B12, Iron and excellent source of essential fatty acids.
Why Edible Snails Are Scarce
Due to continual decline through deforestation, urbanization, road construction, use of pesticides and bush burning, giant snails are gradually grinding to extinction in Nigeria. Despite the fact that snails are carted away by traders from the rural areas to towns and cities, year-in-year out, for consumption without replenishment, a lot still abound in our farms and forest. This is attributed to their reproductive potentials, and peculiar survival features. Hence, those who go into breeding snails from their backyard will not only be making money, but will be helping to preserve the existence of the snail kingdom.
How to Identify Good Snails
When looking for good snails, there are striking features you should look out for. According to a snail expert, good edible snails should fill their shells and have good strong shells which protect them from their enemies. The shell of an edible snail must not be broken or perforated. While perforations retard their growth, broken shells could lead to death.
The large snails are better and healthier and lay more eggs than smaller snails. They also sell better at the market. In addition, the large snails hatch better and the baby snails grow faster and bigger.
What Food Do Snail Eat?
Snails generally feed on fruits and vegetables. Some of which include: Pineapple, Pawpaw, Water melon, Guava, Oil palm, Coconut, Banana, Plantain, Assorted flowers and plants. They also love a plant known as bishop plant. They also feed
on pap residue. The disadvantage of flowers and plants is that they are seasonal when planted in your garden unlike banana and plantain trees which have the capacity to regenerate.
States Where You Can Find Edible Giant Snails
You can find edible snails in states like Osun, Oyo, Ekiti, Ondo, Edo, Delta, Ogun, Kwara and Kogi. Most of the snails are gotten from thick forest. The snails are then brought to the local markets for sale. However care should be taken in buying snails for rearing at the local market because such snails might have been washed or left under harsh and stressful conditions for unnecessarily long period of time and may soon die.
What is the Seasonal Period for Snail Farming in Nigeria
Snails can be available all year round. However, snail business thrives in Nigeria between the months of April and November each year. Peak months are June, July, August and September (Rainy Season). But note that lands that flood is bad for snail farming. Excessive water in the soil does not allow for reproduction or snail eggs to hatch.
Why You Should Start Your Backyard Snail Farming
Backyard snail farming business is one of the easiest animal farming business one can engage in. The business is not saturated yet. Engaging in it means you are helping to protect the extinction of the animal from the Wild (Forest). Snail requires only a small area of land to start with. This backyard business is easy to combine with other normal schedule of activities and can easily be managed even by women and children.
There is high potential for good returns; one of the most profitable investment you can think of. As hermaphrodites, both the male and female specie of snails have capacity to reproduce periodically. Moreover, a full grown giant snail lays on the average 8 eggs every other two months and can reproduce itself at least 20 times in a season. This reproductive advantage on the long run increases the stock of the breeder.
Another interesting benefit or breeding snails is the fact that they are in high demand in high brow areas, hotels, restaurants etc. Their feeding materials are cheap and locally available. Edible snails are available all year round especially during rainy season.
Streams Of Income In The Business
Backyard snail farming is such that you can make multiple streams of income. They include:
Source young and middle aged snails and then sell after growing them for a few months for profits.
Make money from shelter trees; Food and shelter plants or trees like Coconut palm, Pawpaw grow to produce fruits overtime in a pen. Hence, you can easily make huge cash selling them.
Sale of nursery plant: You can make extra cash raising and selling nursery shelter plant to start-up snail breeders.
Warehousing: Many snail traders have the challenge of keeping or warehousing their unsold snails. You can make money by providing that warehousing service.
Consultancy service: An experienced snail farmer can provide consultancy services on snail pen construction and farm management to generate income.
Snail joint – You can decide to operate a mini boiled peppered snail or fried peppered snail joint and you can be sure to make huge cash.
Your Target Market
Individuals – It’s not uncommon to see individuals visit major markets to buy edible snails. You can target such individuals through word of mouth, fliers, advert etc.
Snail traders – Snail traders in the local market usually sell big, medium and small size snail. You make cool profit if you buy and stock the big ones and wait for when its scarce to resell back to the snail traders. You can also buy the medium size for cheap. All you need do is grow them to a bigger size at your farm and resell to the traders for better profit.
Hotels – They are in huge demand for snails. You can position yourself as a regular supplier.
Restaurants – They also patronize suppliers of quality snails’ especially Chinese restaurant. The more restaurants you supply, the bigger your profit.
Eateries – They also patronize suppliers of quality snails’ especially Chinese restaurant. The more restaurants you supply, the bigger your profit.
Barbecue operators - You can become a supplier to those who are barbecue operators
Start Up Capital
Setting up a snail pen requires initial capital for the housing unit and the foundation stock. A backyard snail farmer can start the project with at least N50, 000 at a small scale. Then with about 5 of income in the N100, 000 to N200, 000 for medium and possibly large scale.
Profit Potential
Snail farming has potentials for very good returns on investment (ROI). A unit of matured giant snail can reproduce itself under a conducive environment at least 20 times in a year. Also, a unit of giant Snail of average cost of N100 can appreciate in value to N250 (that is a margin of N 150) after 3-4months with enough feeding. If therefore you have a stock of 500 pieces to supply, (if you invested N50, 000 to stock) multiply that by N150 this will give you N75, 000 (Your profit is N25, 000)
5 Simple Steps Required to Start
The steps are:
1. Do a feasibility study of your land to ascertain the suitability of the soil. One proof of that is the growth of the shelter trees.
2. Then you do the construction/design of your snail pen with right dimension.
3. The next step is to grow your food and shelter vegetation or plant. The shelter plants are reproduced in your garden through the suckers. These are
part of the plant that grow from their roots which when planted grow to form new plants.
4. Security fencing of your pen to prevent loss or disappearance of snails.
5. Stocking of your snails
How To Export Snails
Snails are exported live, fresh, chilled, frozen, salted and dried with or without shell. On the average, 3kg of live or fresh snails are used to produce 1 kg of processed snail flesh. Nigeria does not yet have a strong culture and tradition in the export of snails. However, in recent times successful attempts are being made by Nigerians to export snails to other countries although in small quantities. Snails are usually exported either by air or by sea depending on the agreement between the buyer and seller.
Only active snails are selected for shipping. An inactive snail may be sick or dying. It's best to ship live snails, so each snail is inspected to be sure it's healthy. Snails are packed in cartons or can be canned for shipment.
The basic document required for export for snails include; bill of lading, air waybill, port health certificate, veterinary certificate, certificate of origin, commercial invoice and what is called NXP form.
What is the safest payment method? A letter of credit is an undertaking by a bank to pay an exporter the value of his goods shipped provided he conforms to the terms and conditions of the credit. This method protects both the exporter and foreign buyer under bank guarantee. Exporters are supposed to have domiciliary account with any authorized bank of their choice.
There are several kinds of snails all over the world. They include Achatina achatina, Achatina marginata (Nigerian specie) and Achatina fulica which is the type found in tropical Africa.
Fortunately, it is possible to breed snails from home. Are you thinking of a business you can start with low risk and stream of income attached to it, then you may consider backyard snail farming. The high volume sale recorded by snail traders, weekly in Lagos alone, is an indication that consumption rate is high which makes it a business goldmine.
About Backyard Snail Farming
One can breed or rear snails (either for home consumption or commercial purposes) from the backyard. It's all about artificial creation of a natural environment for snails to thrive. The process of farming or raising land snails specifically for human consumption is called Heliculture. Snails naturally thrive best in a good moist loamy soil, and cool vegetation.
When you have a lush green vegetable garden. (a good soil that contains 20%-40% organic matter), at home and you have particular trees such as banana, plantain,
coconut, etc that provide shade, then you can easily stock the garden with snails dividing them into pens.
What a Snail Pen Is
Farm animals are usually kept in pens so as to restrict their movement. A good snail pen enables the breeder to monitor his or her stock at all times with ease. So, a snail pen is just a single fence-in area which restricts the movement of snails and protects them. It can be built using corrugated sheet metals, fine-mesh chicken wire or woven plant material from split bamboo.
Usually, a snail pen would always be free of weeds or overgrown grasses. It must have shelter plants like plantain, coconut, banana, pineapple, pawpaw to provide shade.
The pens are constructed in various sizes depending on your land space. Depending on the size available to you, you can have: 1m x 1m, 1.5m x 1m, 5m x 5m or 10m x 5m. With a 1m x 1m pen space, you can comfortable stock 50 giant snails.
The Need to Grow Shelter Plants
What are shelter plants? They are plants that provide cool shade or serve as windbreakers in a snail pen. They are source extra food for the snails to aid quick growth. Snails can choose what to eat from any of the shelter plants. Some common shelter plants are banana tree, plantain tree, oil palm, pawpaw, coconut tree. These shelter plants overtime helps to suppress the growth of weeds and grasses in the pen. When there's excessive rain, they climb and hide under the plants.
Reason Snails Are Highly Consumed
The very nutritious snails are big and are in high demand. Consumers (especially in highbrow areas) who know the worth go for them because they are very high in protein and low in saturated fat when compared to the regular beef. Snails are a good source of vitamin E, vitamin A, vitamin B12, Iron and excellent source of essential fatty acids.
Why Edible Snails Are Scarce
Due to continual decline through deforestation, urbanization, road construction, use of pesticides and bush burning, giant snails are gradually grinding to extinction in Nigeria. Despite the fact that snails are carted away by traders from the rural areas to towns and cities, year-in-year out, for consumption without replenishment, a lot still abound in our farms and forest. This is attributed to their reproductive potentials, and peculiar survival features. Hence, those who go into breeding snails from their backyard will not only be making money, but will be helping to preserve the existence of the snail kingdom.
How to Identify Good Snails
When looking for good snails, there are striking features you should look out for. According to a snail expert, good edible snails should fill their shells and have good strong shells which protect them from their enemies. The shell of an edible snail must not be broken or perforated. While perforations retard their growth, broken shells could lead to death.
The large snails are better and healthier and lay more eggs than smaller snails. They also sell better at the market. In addition, the large snails hatch better and the baby snails grow faster and bigger.
What Food Do Snail Eat?
Snails generally feed on fruits and vegetables. Some of which include: Pineapple, Pawpaw, Water melon, Guava, Oil palm, Coconut, Banana, Plantain, Assorted flowers and plants. They also love a plant known as bishop plant. They also feed
on pap residue. The disadvantage of flowers and plants is that they are seasonal when planted in your garden unlike banana and plantain trees which have the capacity to regenerate.
States Where You Can Find Edible Giant Snails
You can find edible snails in states like Osun, Oyo, Ekiti, Ondo, Edo, Delta, Ogun, Kwara and Kogi. Most of the snails are gotten from thick forest. The snails are then brought to the local markets for sale. However care should be taken in buying snails for rearing at the local market because such snails might have been washed or left under harsh and stressful conditions for unnecessarily long period of time and may soon die.
What is the Seasonal Period for Snail Farming in Nigeria
Snails can be available all year round. However, snail business thrives in Nigeria between the months of April and November each year. Peak months are June, July, August and September (Rainy Season). But note that lands that flood is bad for snail farming. Excessive water in the soil does not allow for reproduction or snail eggs to hatch.
Why You Should Start Your Backyard Snail Farming
Backyard snail farming business is one of the easiest animal farming business one can engage in. The business is not saturated yet. Engaging in it means you are helping to protect the extinction of the animal from the Wild (Forest). Snail requires only a small area of land to start with. This backyard business is easy to combine with other normal schedule of activities and can easily be managed even by women and children.
There is high potential for good returns; one of the most profitable investment you can think of. As hermaphrodites, both the male and female specie of snails have capacity to reproduce periodically. Moreover, a full grown giant snail lays on the average 8 eggs every other two months and can reproduce itself at least 20 times in a season. This reproductive advantage on the long run increases the stock of the breeder.
Another interesting benefit or breeding snails is the fact that they are in high demand in high brow areas, hotels, restaurants etc. Their feeding materials are cheap and locally available. Edible snails are available all year round especially during rainy season.
Streams Of Income In The Business
Backyard snail farming is such that you can make multiple streams of income. They include:
Source young and middle aged snails and then sell after growing them for a few months for profits.
Make money from shelter trees; Food and shelter plants or trees like Coconut palm, Pawpaw grow to produce fruits overtime in a pen. Hence, you can easily make huge cash selling them.
Sale of nursery plant: You can make extra cash raising and selling nursery shelter plant to start-up snail breeders.
Warehousing: Many snail traders have the challenge of keeping or warehousing their unsold snails. You can make money by providing that warehousing service.
Consultancy service: An experienced snail farmer can provide consultancy services on snail pen construction and farm management to generate income.
Snail joint – You can decide to operate a mini boiled peppered snail or fried peppered snail joint and you can be sure to make huge cash.
Your Target Market
Individuals – It’s not uncommon to see individuals visit major markets to buy edible snails. You can target such individuals through word of mouth, fliers, advert etc.
Snail traders – Snail traders in the local market usually sell big, medium and small size snail. You make cool profit if you buy and stock the big ones and wait for when its scarce to resell back to the snail traders. You can also buy the medium size for cheap. All you need do is grow them to a bigger size at your farm and resell to the traders for better profit.
Hotels – They are in huge demand for snails. You can position yourself as a regular supplier.
Restaurants – They also patronize suppliers of quality snails’ especially Chinese restaurant. The more restaurants you supply, the bigger your profit.
Eateries – They also patronize suppliers of quality snails’ especially Chinese restaurant. The more restaurants you supply, the bigger your profit.
Barbecue operators - You can become a supplier to those who are barbecue operators
Start Up Capital
Setting up a snail pen requires initial capital for the housing unit and the foundation stock. A backyard snail farmer can start the project with at least N50, 000 at a small scale. Then with about 5 of income in the N100, 000 to N200, 000 for medium and possibly large scale.
Profit Potential
Snail farming has potentials for very good returns on investment (ROI). A unit of matured giant snail can reproduce itself under a conducive environment at least 20 times in a year. Also, a unit of giant Snail of average cost of N100 can appreciate in value to N250 (that is a margin of N 150) after 3-4months with enough feeding. If therefore you have a stock of 500 pieces to supply, (if you invested N50, 000 to stock) multiply that by N150 this will give you N75, 000 (Your profit is N25, 000)
5 Simple Steps Required to Start
The steps are:
1. Do a feasibility study of your land to ascertain the suitability of the soil. One proof of that is the growth of the shelter trees.
2. Then you do the construction/design of your snail pen with right dimension.
3. The next step is to grow your food and shelter vegetation or plant. The shelter plants are reproduced in your garden through the suckers. These are
part of the plant that grow from their roots which when planted grow to form new plants.
4. Security fencing of your pen to prevent loss or disappearance of snails.
5. Stocking of your snails
How To Export Snails
Snails are exported live, fresh, chilled, frozen, salted and dried with or without shell. On the average, 3kg of live or fresh snails are used to produce 1 kg of processed snail flesh. Nigeria does not yet have a strong culture and tradition in the export of snails. However, in recent times successful attempts are being made by Nigerians to export snails to other countries although in small quantities. Snails are usually exported either by air or by sea depending on the agreement between the buyer and seller.
Only active snails are selected for shipping. An inactive snail may be sick or dying. It's best to ship live snails, so each snail is inspected to be sure it's healthy. Snails are packed in cartons or can be canned for shipment.
The basic document required for export for snails include; bill of lading, air waybill, port health certificate, veterinary certificate, certificate of origin, commercial invoice and what is called NXP form.
What is the safest payment method? A letter of credit is an undertaking by a bank to pay an exporter the value of his goods shipped provided he conforms to the terms and conditions of the credit. This method protects both the exporter and foreign buyer under bank guarantee. Exporters are supposed to have domiciliary account with any authorized bank of their choice.
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