How to Start Animal Feed Business in Nigeria – Livestock Business Opportunities
How really lucrative is animal feed production as an investment? Well, it’s no news that animal feed/livestock feed model is one of the top agribusinesses with high potential for profitability. Your question should rather be; how do you choose the right one from the about 100 business opportunities in animal feed? Thing is, the key determining factor is capital. And in that direction, I’ll be spelling out the top models in animal feed businesses based on capital. I’ll also show you how to start animal feed business in Nigeria in some of the top models alive today. I’ll go down from the most capital intensive to the least capital demanding model. Let’s dive in and out in 15 minutes.
Start Livestock Feed Production In Nigeria
As the most capital intensive, livestock feed production is my first pick. But what is livestock feed production? It is simply the processing/formulating of raw agricultural ingredients like wheat, forage, and the likes into consumable cattle feed, dog feed, and bird feed to mention but a few. Starting a livestock feed production company of your own however may be in a large scale or small scale depending on your budget. Nevertheless whether large scale or small scale, the process flow remains the same;
- Cleaning of raw material
- Raw material weighing
- Grinding
- Batching and mixing
- Palletizing
- Cooling
- Screening
- Packaging
- Storing
- Dispatching
If you’re looking to start any of the two, I have listed the basic animal feed making machine recognized with each.
Starting a small scale livestock feeds production business
After obtaining your certificate of production from NAFDAC (National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control) through VMAP (Veterinary Medicine and Allied Product), the first step you’ll ever take should get you around the feed formulation. That is knowing exactly the specific nutrients in the regulated amount that should be in every kind of animal feed you’re producing. Most livestock feed manufacturers in Nigeria, however, go for an animal nutritionist to do that for them. Proceeding with the defined feed formula and going by your budget, the needed ingredients (raw materials) are purchased alongside the livestock feed making machines in the table below for processing. The final products are then loaded up in a store in bags for distribution. Needless to say, you must have had a marketing plan ahead of production.
Animal Feed Processing Requirements for Small Scall Production
- Raw material for production
- Animal feed mixing machine
- Grinding machine
- Weighing machine
- Packaging machine
- Power generator
- Manufacturing space
Starting a large scale livestock feed production business
So I guess I have had the basic part explained in the first part (Small scale). The only thing differentiating large scale feed production from the small scale is quantity of materials and the number of kinds of feed produced. Unlike in small scale animal feed production, here you produce more than one kind of feed (at least three) and you do that in large quantity. You produce both mash and pellet feed. And you pay more attention to marketing by drawing an extensive marketing strategy, a longer list of livestock production systems, and of course a massive capital.
Animal Feed Processing Requirements for Large Scall Production
- Raw material for production
- Animal feed batching and mixing system
- Grinding equipment
- Sifting machine
- Extruder
- Expander
- Conditioner
- Pellet mill
- Packing and storage machine
- Cleaning and aspiration machine
- Automation machine
- Fish feed making machine
- Cattle feed making machine
- Power generator
- Production space
Image Credit | biofuelmachines.com
Those are the main requirements.
The next thing is the production process. You will need a trained animal nutritionist with knowledge of animal feed production to help in mixing the ingredients in the right proportion.
The next business opportunity in Livestock is distributorship.
How to be a Successful Livestock Feed Supplier/Distributor in Nigeria
Another model in the livestock feed business is animal feed distribution. And here’s how to become a successful livestock feed distributor in Nigeria.
- Find out where to buy livestock feeds, supplements, and feed additives around you
As far as I know, the best poultry feed in Nigeria today comes from the top 7 agro feeds companies namely; Top, Aqua, Vital, Ranaan, Boar, Durante, and Hybrid. These brands are the best sellers, therefore some if not all of them should be who you should be selling for considering. By the way, when making that decision, two important factors to put on the list should be the cost of transportation and products price.
- Get a feed distributor license
Having decided the company to distribute their livestock products, next thing is the acquisition of a feed distributor license. If you decide to be a Hybrid feed distributor or one of Top feed poultry feed distributors, you should contact the manufacturer to find out the requirements.
- Rent or purchase an outlet
You need a facility in form of a warehouse or a shop to get the business going and you should get one. But whatever outlet you go for, make security and exposure your top priority. Remember, location is a key factor in business.
- Cash in on labor force
Depending on your budget, your venture needs a few hands to load feed bags off and on as you can’t do it alone. You can do with freelancers whom you pay as they work instead of hiring them and placing them on a monthly salary.
- Transportation system
Without transportation means in form of a van or truck of your own, you’ll be burning through your money on vehicle renting and or delivery services. So you need one and a team of delivery guys at the back of the truck with a driver behind the wheel.
Another opportunity in livestock farming is marketing.
Sell Livestock Feed Online
Now here’s the last on my list of animal feed businesses in Nigeria and it is the least capital intensive. You do not need to own a physical shop loaded with bags of feed of your own. What you need is an online presence through which poultry keepers and livestock owners can find you every day. Your online presence may be a social media page, a blog, or an ecommerce store. Whatever the case may be, the work will be putting whatever products you’re interested in selling up on your page virtually, including the prices, and selling them to your potential customers. You may also decide to promote a company’s product as an affiliate. Learn more about affiliate marketing.
Conclusion
Those are the three basic animal feed businesses in Nigeria and how to start them. But which of my three picked models would you go for and why? What’s your suggestion about my picks? Is there something I’m missing you’d rather call my attention to? Use the comment box.
