Make money doing snail business

HOW TO MAKE COOL CASH REARING SNAIL FROM YOUR BACKYARD

    Have you ever tasted fried pepper snails before? If you have not, then you are missing something. 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 insignificant, but I tell you, They can be a huge source of wealth.


    Food scientists are optimistic 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. If there's one business you are thinking of starting with low risk and  which is usually pregnant with several streams of income, then you may consider backyard snail farming. The high volume sale recorded by snail traders, weekly in Lagos, is an indication that consumption rate is high which makes it a business goldmine.
    Speaking with an expert, his decision to foray into snail farming, having left the banking world over a decade ago is not regrettable. Experts, leveraged on an unused plot of land, in his Lagos home residence, to start a backyard snail farm that has since seen him smiling to the bank almost on a weekly basis having also discovered other streams of income in this business. Here the export and snail expert, unveils to readers, how to start commercial snail rearing that guarantees huge profit over time.

What is Backyard Snail Farming?
    Just in the same way you have those who breed catfish from their home fish pond, so also 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 Heleciculture. Snails naturally thrive best in a good moist loamy sol, 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. There are those which  have come up with different methods of keeping snails such as earthen pots, old car tyres, wooden cages, concrete trenches, etc. Experts would always recommend that if you want to get the best out of rearing snails, then, a lush green vegetable garden is it.


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 materials from split bamboo.

    Usually, a snail pen would always be free of weeds or overgrown grasses. It must have shelter plants like plantain, coconut, pawpaw, banana and pineapple 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 comfortably 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 extra source of food for snails to aid quick growth. Snails can choose what to eat from any of the shelter plants. Some common shelter plants are banana trees, plantain trees, pawpaw trees, oil palm tree and coconut trees. 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.
Why Snails are Highly Consumed
    According to experts, snails like many animals fit for human consumption are going into extinction. The ones we see naturally during rainy seasons especially in gutters, or in our homes are not the nutritiously delicious species. They are also usually small in size. The very nutritious ones are big and in high demand. Consumers who know the worth go for them because they are high in protein and low in saturated fat when compared to the regular beef. Snails are a good source of Vitamin A, Vitamin B12, Vitamin E, Iron and an 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 town and cities, year-in-year-out for consumption without replenishment, a lot still abound in our farms and forests. This is attributed to their reproductive potentials, and peculiar survival features. Hence, those who go into breeding snails from their backyard will only be helping to preserve the existence of the snail kingdom.

How to Identify Good Snails
    When looking for good snails, what striking features should you look out for? According to snail experts, 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 Snails 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 plant.

They also love a plant known as bishop plant. They also feed on pap residue. The disadvantage of plants and flowers is that they are seasonal when planted your garden unlike plantain and banana trees which have the capacity to regenerate.

Where to Find Edible Giant Snails in Nigeria
    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 when buying snails for rearing at the local markets for sale because such snails  might have been washed or left under harsh and stressful conditions for unnecessarily long periods of time and may soon die.

Seasonal Period of 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 according to experts, is one of the easiest animal farm 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 species of snails have the capacity to reproduce prolifically.. Moreover, a full grown giant snail lays on the average 8 eggs every 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 of breeding  snails is the the fact that they are high in demand in places like hotels, restaurants, etc. Their feeding materials are cheap and locally available. Edible snails are available all year round especially during season.
Streams of Income Attached to the Business
    Backyard snail farming is such that you can make multiple streams of income. They include ;
Sourcing for young and middle aged snails and then selling after growing them for a few months for profit.
Make money from shelter trees: Food and shelter plants or  trees like coconut palm, pawpaw, etc. grow to produce fruits overtime in a pen in a pen. Hence, you can easily make huge cash selling them.
Sales of nursery plant: You can make extra cash raising and selling nursery shelter plants 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.
Small Joint: You can decide to operate a mini boiled peppers snail or fried peppers snail joint and you can be sure to make huge cash.

Those You Can Market To
    Individuals visit major markets to buy edible snails. You can target such persons through word of mouth, fliers, advert, etc.
    Snail Traders -  Snail traders in the local markets usually sell big, medium and small sized snail. You can make cool profit if you buy and stock the big one's and wait for when its scarce to resell back to the snail traders. You can also buy medium size, grow them to become bigger 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 restaurants. The more restaurants you supply, the bigger your profit.
    Eateries - They also patronize suppliers of quality snails.
    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 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 N150 ) after 3 - 4 months with enough feeding. If therefore you have a stock of 500 pieces to supply, (if you invested N50,000) multiply that by N150 this will give you N75,000 realizing a profit of N25,000.

5 Simple Steps required to Start
    The steps are;

1. Do a feasibility study of your land to ascertain the sustainability 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 the 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 1kg 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. Snail are packed in cartons or canned for shipment.
    The basic document required for export of snails include; bill of laden, 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.