Snail farming, also known as heliciculture, is the process of raising and breeding snails for human consumption or commercial purposes. Snail farming is one of the most lucrative agricultural business ideas for young entrepreneurs in Nigeria due to the growing demand for snail meat.
Snail farming may not be the first thing that jumps to mind when thinking of profitable businesses to start in Nigeria. 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. 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 N400 to N800 depending on the size. According to ‘global market insights’ The market size of snails is set to cross USD 1.58 billion by 2032, due to the rising demand for snail-based products and delicacies worldwide.
Currently, the demand for snails is higher than the supplies, an indication that the market potential of snails is inexhaustible, locally and internationally. Starting both small and large scale snail farming businesses is the only way to fill up the spaces between the demand for snail and its supply in Africa.
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.
Feeding And Rearing Of The Snails
Snails are vegetarians and can be fed with a wide variety 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.
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.
Cost
Wale Akinola, a small-scale snail farmer, suggests that one can start a snail business with as little as N50,000, depending on the desired size of the snail farm.