There a lot of talk in the last few years about fish farming as a very lucrative business venture to start an run in Nigeria and a lot of business owners and investors have been contemplating whether to venture into it or not.
I have had the priviledge of researching this opportunity and
have reached a conclusion about the business. It can be very lucrative and
worth your while if the scale at which you operate it is the right one and the
location is strategic. Anyone who ventures into fish farming but misses out on
these will discover the hard way that it is no joke to start a delicate business
like fish farming if you cannot operate profitably after committing millions of
naira to a project that should have made you smile to the bank.
So while I will provide all the information about this
opportunity (it is only available on request) I will do my best to explain what
makes fish farming business in Nigeria profitable as briefly as possible. To answer
this question I will be taking out time to answer some background questions
leading to a conclusive answer for this post’s main question. Here is the list
of background questions I will be taking on;
- What is fish farming business?
- What makes it a profitable business?
- What is the level of demand for fish in Nigeria?
- What are the challenges of Fish Farming in Nigeria?
- What is the level of Investment needed to operate
profitably?
- Startup cost and payback period
- Who should invest in Fish Farming?
What is Fish
Farming Business?
Fish farming is the rearing and production of different
species and varieties of fish for human consumption. It often times involves
use of artificial but sophisticated fish holding facilities such as ponds for
rearing fish from different stages of their lifecycle until they are mature
enough for sale to the market. The various varieties of fish that is reared include;
catfish, tilapia, salmon and a few other varieties, although when most people
talk about fish farming in Nigeria they typically refer to Catfish farming.
What is the
level of demand for fish in Nigeria?
Fish is in very high demand in Nigeria. There is almost no
part of Nigeria where people do not eat fish regularly as part of their diet. Although
fish is more expensive than meat in terms of cost per kg and most Nigerians are
price sensitive when it comes to food selection fish is eaten across the
various social classes. At parties, child naming ceremonies, wedding receptions
and even social hangouts people eat fish as part of stew (fish stew, fish
pepper soup, barbecue) or any other light meal you can enjoy from time to time.
We are talking about at least 3 million people who eat fish at least once a day
in a country of over 200 million people. There is always a waiting market for
fish in Nigeria. The demand for fish in Nigeria is so high that even though our
local fishermen harvest millions of tons yearly, we imported 125 billion naira
worth of fish in 2018 alone. That speaks volumes of the market in Nigeria.
What can
make Fish Farming Profitable in Nigeria?
There are 8 success factors I know of that can make an
investment into fish farming a profitable venture in Nigeria. I will only talk
about 2 of them in this article and briefly talk about them. The first key
factor is the strategic location of a fish farm. Being in a place that isn’t logistically
impossible to serve your target market is prime importance. Location as a
factor can also refer to prevailing climate and water source. Semi-arid and
desert areas are not suitable for fish farming. The second factor is scale. You
don’t want to operate a fish farming business at a scale that will not make you
sustainable because the operating costs and risks involved in this business
would require a reasonable scale to shield your business against occasional
losses.
What are
the challenges of Fish Farming in Nigeria?
The fish farming business is a very risky one to do. Thieves can
easily raid a fish farm and harvest large number of them. Some vandals have
been known to poison fish in their ponds. Sometimes the young fish just die
mysteriously or get eaten up by bigger fish. The cost of fish feed is very high
then add stiff competition and low profit margin, fish farming business is not
for people with low patience and not willing to take big risks.
Start Up
Cost and Payback Period for Fish Farming Business in Nigeria
If you want to run fish farming business profitably in Nigeria,
do not expect that a little investment of less than 1 million will work for
you. Reasonable amount of investment should start from 5 million and that is on
small scale. Even at that your return on investment may not be very
encouraging. If you are serious about running it profitably and can raise the
required amount, you should be looking at 12 million naira and above. Breakdown
of the return on investment, startup costs and payback details send me an email
to: paulonwueme@gmail.com
Conclusion
Is fish farming business very profitable business to do in
Nigeria? The answer is yes if you can operate it at a meaningful scale and manage
it efficiently. There are risks involved in this business, manage those risks well
and you should smile to the bank because there is an existing market and it
keeps growing.
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Paul Onwueme
is a professional Business Plan writer since February 2014, has achieved
respectable results with his business plan writing service with several of his
clients securing funding and leaving positive feedback about his writing
service. You can connect with him via phone: 0803 206 4106 or email: paulonwueme@gmail.com
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