Hey, snails and mushrooms make a lucrative business

Roussos Demisse, a mushroom farmer who also keeps snails, on his farm in Karen. Hotels, grocery shops and individuals majorly vegetarians are the main buyers of his commodities.
What you need to know:
- A farmer needs to first identify the type of mushrooms they want to grow, then make the right substrate (growing media).
- Like mushroom, snail farming is unique and requires a controlled environment.
- For beginners, one can get the parent stock of snails from KWS, other farmers or the wild.
- Snails mostly feed on vegetables like cabbages and lettuce and pawpaw, okra, melons, cucumbers and banana leaves but currently, there are specially formulated commercial feeds rich in calcium which makes them grow faster.
You have been growing mushrooms for some years, why the venture?
Demisse: It is unique and demand is growing. I started with mushrooms in 2015, growing them in a school laboratory at Mt Kenya University where I am a fourth year student studying Bachelor of Science in Information Technology.
I later implemented the project growing button and oyster varieties in mud houses under my business Mushroom Kenya.
I also train farmers on how to grow the crop. I fell in love with farming while growing up in Kisumu with my grandmother.
Talking of training, what do you teach farmers?
Demisse: First, mushroom is an indoor crop making it easier to control the necessary conditions like humidity and also hygiene.
One can grow them in a mud house, stone house, greenhouse, wooden house or even an underground house.
They grow on substrate and like parasites, they don't have the ability to make their own food.
A farmer needs to first identify the type of mushrooms they want to grow, then make the right substrate (growing media).
Other materials required include the spawn which is the mushroom seeds. You also need a knapsack sprayer for spraying the rooms, harvesting and packaging materials.
Give us a picture of the returns from mushrooms?
Demisse: Hotels, grocery shops and individuals majorly vegetarians are the main buyers of the commodity.
It takes approximately Sh360 to produce a kilogramme that retails at Sh800 in the market.
Why snail farming?
Demisse: Like mushroom, snail farming is unique and requires a controlled environment. Under this farming, which is known as heliculture, one keeps the land snail for human consumption or cosmetic use.
Meat and eggs are the main products though there are others like slime, which is medicinal, and is used in cosmetics and the shells are used for ornamental purposes.
I chose to keep them after they infested our mushroom farm. I realised that there are snails that are edible and are farmed in other parts of the world for meat or cosmetics.
I was linked with a Ugandan farmer who I later visited in Kampala in July 2019 for training. I keep the Giant African land snail variety.
What does one need to keep snails?
Demisse: First of all, a pen, which protects them from predators and in control because they are invasive species and can be a threat to farmers.
This is one of the reasons why Kenya Wildlife Service regulates the farming by giving a permit. For beginners, one can get the parent stock from KWS, other farmers or the wild.
The snail farm must be properly selected and situated in an environment that is free from predators, diseases and bacteria that may be harmful to the creatures.
The perfect soil type for snail breeding is sandy-loamy soil, which should always be moist.
Snails mostly feed on vegetables like cabbages and lettuce and pawpaw, okra, melons, cucumbers and banana leaves but currently, there are specially formulated commercial feeds rich in calcium which makes them grow faster.
They take averagely between six to 12 months to attain market size when breeding with natural feed like fruits and vegetables.
Where is the market for snails?
Demisse: We sell our snails to foreigners living in Kenya, and these are Nigerians and France.
We also sell to West African restaurants. Currently, a kilo with shells goes at Sh2,000 and snail meat extracted from the shell at Sh4,000.
Apart from meat, there is new focus on snail slime, snail shell art and decorations, snail shell powder which is rich in calcium and can be used as a raw material for making animal feeds and even fertiliser and snail therapy for salons.
Since both snails and mushrooms are new types of farming, it is important to seek the right information on breeds, diseases and the market.
You farm in Karen, an upmarket area, what kind of capital did you need for a start-up?
Demisse: I lease an acre at Sh30,000 per month. But we have now bought some two acres in Kajiado where we plan to move.
I started the business with my savings but my father also supports me and there are angel investors who offer financial and advisory support.
Why is mushroom a crop of interest?
Professor Justus Onguso, a plant bio-techlogist: Demand is growing yet our production is still very low.
What we grow currently is more western than indigenous one. In terms of nutrition, the levels are almost the same but the indigenous mushroom is tastier.
Is snail farming viable?
Dr Paul Kinoti, JKUAT: Many farmers keep locally the Giant African land snail. It is useful for processing of by products like creams, fertilisers and animal feeds.
Internationally, the Helis Aspasia (brown snail) is kept for slime useful in cosmetic industry.