How I Make Ksh.200,000 Per Month From Snail Farming
Wangui Waweru is the owner of the Gold Dust Snail Farm located in Nakuru. She has been rearing snails for the past six years.
Her fascination with mollusks started in 2017 when she consumed snail meat unknowingly. Despite feeling squeamish at first, Wangui loved the delicacy. She decided to learn about snails and how they are reared.
Consequently, she traveled to Uganda, where she found a farmer who reared snails for a living. She later traveled to Kigali for additional knowledge on snail farming.
Wangui says that the value of snails as pets, food, and a source of income is mostly unknown in Kenya.
Needless to say, when she started her snail farm in Nakuru, she became a pariah in her community and was even accused of witchcraft. Most people had never heard that snails could be consumed, let alone reared.
According to Waweru, snails are a common delicacy in Asia, West Africa, and South Africa. In Kenya, snails are consumed mainly by foreigners from these countries. However, she says that Kenyans are slowly accepting snails as food.
Snails are a major source of white meat. Additionally, they are rich in vitamins B12, B16, and B18. On her farm, the animals are organically reared.
As a source of income, Wangui says snails are very valuable. Firstly, she earns from selling snail meat, which can sell for up to Ksh.7,000 a kilo. Secondly, she says that snail bi-products are very much in demand, especially snail slime.
“The slime is used to make beauty products, and it’s very expensive,” says Wangui.
Snail cavalier is even more expensive, and a kilogram can sell for as much as 2,000 dollars in Europe and Asia. The farmer advises those complaining about unemployment in the country to try snail farming.
“If you sell a kilo of snail cavalier, you will be well off than most employed people,” says Wangui.
She says snail shells are crushed as a source of calcium for animal feed. Additionally, they can be used for decoration.
Wangui says that snail slime is used to make face masks, scrubbers, and beauty soaps. The farmer makes her own beauty products, including laundry soap from snail slime. She tried giving her products for free in her community, and she says the response was 100% positive.
She is currently waiting for a certification from KEBS before launching her products in the market.
“You don’t have to be a farmer of snails to earn from them. You can buy the slime, make your products and sell them to the community,” she says.
*Expenses*
The farmer says that snails consume little food. Their diet consists of kale, carrots, calcium, and water. Overfeeding them can cause them to die of too much protein in their bodies, so you have to skip a day after feeding them.
“The income from snails is very substantial compared to what I spend feeding them. You can grow the food from a small kitchen garden,” says Waweru.
*Startup Capital*
The farmer says she invested Ksh.250,000 in starting her snail farm. However, she says that Ksh.40,000 is enough to launch a snail farming business. You will first need to purchase breeder snails, which cost Ksh.1,600 a kilo. Wangui says you can start with 20 kg of breeders as they are manageable.
Structures will cost you approximately Ksh.5,000. Finally, you can set aside Ksh.5,000 for training to rear the snails.
To become a snail farmer, Wambui says you’ll need to be passionate about the business. You’ll also need to have the proper knowledge, which you can get from attending training.
Finally, you’ll need a permit from Kenya Wildlife Services. “Snail farming is lucrative, but there are very strict requirement from Kenya Wildlife Service. This is not just something you jump in; you have to read extensively to know snails in and out,” she says.
*Final Word*
As we always tell you, there’s no marathon race that has ever been won by those who did not start the race.
If you like the idea discussed above and you have what it takes to actualize it…then don’t wait to start…just do it.
Also, don`t forget to join our training on Money Agency Business.
Mobile and bank deposits and withdrawals have become part of day to day life of almost every Kenyan.
People are always depositing money into their M-PESA, Airtel Money, Telkom Kash, Equity bank, Co-operative bank, and KCB accounts, among other mobile and bank wallets.
In equal measure, others are always withdrawing money they just received into those accounts.
Does that in any way sound as if mobile and bank money deposits and withdrawals are vanishing anytime soon?
Definitely not!
The interesting bit of it all is that those money deposits and withdrawals are done via Mobile Money and Banking agencies who carry out such transactions every day.
An agent comes in the gap to provide the medium for depositing and withdrawing money and in return, they earn commissions for both services.
Now that you know that an agent will earn commissions to mediate deposits and withdrawals concerning Mobile and Bank Money, can’t you be that agent and tap in on those awesome commissions on the Mobile Money and Banking Agency business?
Interestingly, the mobile and banking agency business is one of the most profitable businesses in Kenya if it’s set up along a busy street or a strategic corner where people are always passing by and can clearly see from far.
If you merge being a mobile money agent with being a Bank Agent of one or several banks, you are indeed in a lucrative business and you can make over Ksh.100,000 per month.
By
Timothy Angwenyi
Business Consultant
Justine Nyachieo
Business Man & Mentor
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