How meat value chain can employ 2m youth

The potential in the animal subsector of the nation’s agriculture is huge and offers many opportunities to Nigerians doing small-scale agribusiness in the country.Already many businesses such as Shagalinku, Yahuza Suya and many others doing business along the animal value chain either  as animal breeding, meat processing and packages for eateries and mega hotels in […]

The potential in the animal subsector of the nation’s agriculture is huge and offers many opportunities to Nigerians doing small-scale agribusiness in the country.
Already many businesses such as Shagalinku, Yahuza Suya and many others doing business along the animal value chain either  as animal breeding, meat processing and packages for eateries and mega hotels in their domain or processing and packaging of animal feeds for those into animal production.
Alhaji Samaila Mairago owns a livestock farm and shop at the market. He breeds and sells rams for 25 years-a business he inherited from his father. He grew the farm to over 120 rams where today he makes an average of N200,000 to N300,000 monthly selling rams daily; and making more during religious festivities as Sallah and Christmas.
He has about five people working for him in the farm and in the market where the rams are sold, saying,“I have done quite a lot as a result of doing this business.”
One of the livestock dealers in the market and Chief Whip of the livestock dealers association, Alhaji Ya’u Alkalin Kungiya said in addition to marketing livestock, he is into rearing of goats, rams and sheep in the market.
“The secret associated with the rearing of rams for fattening is that you must not expose them to rainfall. Make sure they are in a room or under canopy. Do not make the mistake of leaving them without feed or water even for ten minutes. The environment they are living must be clean all the times. Livestock doesn’t feed well when you keep them at an unhygienic environment.
“Rams in particular will never grow fat no matter what they eat so long as they are exposed to rainfall. When you serve them husk around 10am, for example, it is expected that by 12 noon, whether the husk remain or not, you must go and add more to look fresh. Fresh feed gives them apartheid to eat more.
“Another thing they require so much is medication. You must make sure you have a Veterinary Doctor that checks them at least every week to administer drugs for them when need be. That include deworming and treatment of identified ailments. Even in the middle of the night one is expected to be checking on his rams, give them water and feed,” he said.
Also commenting, Alhaji Aminu Musa aka Mai Anguwa, a dealer in cows, rams, sheep, goats, turkey and chicken said he is also rearing all the animals and birds he is trading on, adding, “I rear them in this market and sell just like many other dealers that rear livestock and birds.”
Most of the livestock and chicken breeders that spoke to these reporters said while some of the breeders are doing so to fatten their rams and cows to maximize profit, many others do so to take the advantage of most pregnant cows and sheep that deliver at the market.
A cattle attendant that identify himself as Musa said, “When you buy a pregnant cow or sheep, the best thing to do is to allow it deliver and rear it till the small ones grow big. If you are to sell a pregnant cow it is not as attractive as a normal fattened cow.”    
Alhaji Sani Zamfara breeds ducks for sell at the chicken section of the market. His business looks a bit unusual as he leads his flocks for feeding. In a chart with the reporters, Alhaji Zamfara explained that the business is profitable as each of the bird sells between N2000 to N3000.
“Well I choose ducks because it has capability to hatch more than 12 chicks each. This can give you good money if you are patient. I started with few ducks, people were discouraging me saying how many people buy ducks, and they are dirty birds this and that. But I refused to listen to them. Today, people come to buy them from me daily. The birds are easy to feed because you don’t need to buy any special feeds. They eat anything from corn to just anything,” Zamfara shared his experience.
Directing his flocks to where he keeps their feeds, “this is good money” he said, “I wish I have the kind of money I need, I would have expand this business to prove that this is profitable just as any other business.”
He told the reporters that opportunities abounds in animal subsector if only the youth will take advantage of the demand out there adding that it is better than stealing, or killing people.
He hopes to expand like Yahuza Suya Ltd where he will breeds; process and package duck meat and take it to the market. “I know many people would buy it from me, even hotels.”
Alhaji Mohammed Nyalle Makera has been in the business of selling cattle  for over 30 years. Although he was not willing to share the top secrets of his business, his father who preferred to remain anonymous however highlighted some basic insights into what he and his son have been doing in the business of animals.
“We bread cow too. We do cattle fattening, where we buy and introduce special food to enable the animals gain significant weight that can fetch good money to us,” he said.
“Sometimes we go to the farmers in places where they do not have good feeds for their animals, buy such animals and bring them down to Abuja where we do our best to fattened them. We can sell each one for at least N250,000 to N300,000 . That will leave us with a profit of about N150,000 if you minus the money spent on feeds,” his father shared in confidence.
But for Kasimusani, he seizes the opportunity in animal feeds to generate money for him; although he doesn’t process the feeds himself, he repackages it for sell in Abuja.
Unlike Kasimu who doesn’t process his feeds, Amadu Abdullahi who also does the same business told the reporters that he process and repackages the feeds especially for people who want to fattened their animals in order to make good money.