Govt should encourage snail farmers with grants and make snails livelihood business in Nigeria -Henry Etineh of Arapel Agro Farms

Henry Etineh is the chief executive officer of Arapel Agro Farms Ltd, producers of the giant Africa land snails. In this chat with ISAAC NGUMAH, Etineh speaks on how the company supplies different sizes of farmed snails at wholesale prices; constructions of snail pen; snail feed consultancy services and everything snails. According to him, Arapel Agro Farms is an agricultural farming business basic ally specialized on snail farming, consultancy, training and sales of live snails. Excerpt:

What makes your organization a fast-rising agricultural venture?

We have invented a model called Henry snail model in 2020 in growing snails without seasons and within a limited space, you can grow over 40 to 50,000 snails yearly. We are the first to produce snails without seasons in Africa.

Tells about your supplies so far

We supply 40 to 50,000 snails yearly. We sell snails for people who are into restaurants, hotels, bars. We also sell snails for those who want to go into breeding or who want to go into productions.

What are the ways to multiply and grow giant snails?

You must have a model to use in growing it all year round, but with our model, you can grow 10 to 12 months instead of a year.

What are the best snails to rear in Nigeria?

Accatima and marginaga

How long does it take snail to mature?

10 to 12 months

How much does it take to establish a snail farm?

250,000 AT 150 dollars, MEDIUM HALF, 2 to 3 million

Tell us about your snail farm

Settling and breeders

Tell us about your challenges

Power, finance and logistics

Tell us your experience as a farmer

Patience and perseverance

What is your focus?

My focus is to make things available and affordable in Africa and beyond.

How many people have you trained so far?

5,000 to 10,000 people

How long have you been the business?

Eight years.

Tell us the competition in the business

Too much false knowledge all over the place. The open market is also another place of competitions

Tell us about the construction of snail pen

You have to have a space and you have to do some constructions by using concrete pen.

What are your expectations from the government to support SME in farming business?

Government should encourage us with grants and also make snails a livelihood business in Nigeria in rural and urban areas.