Do you have some loose Sh250,000 and don’t know where to invest?,  just try pig farming. Based on several interviews with successful pig farmers in the country, Farmbiz Africa has prepared a tentative budget and expected Returns from this agribusiness venture in the 14 months.

Requirements

Pigs require adequate space, quite environment and enough food. Considering that a pig requires a space of at least 24 square meters, in order to raise two pregnant sows, on should consider a constructing a pig shed measuring at least 20 meters by 24 meters. This is because, a after a gestation period of three months, each pig is likely to sire at least 10 piglets.  

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To erect a strong, warm and spacious 30 by 45 meters pig shed, one requires at least Sh75,000 to cater for timber which is retailing at Sh30 per square meter, 25 iron sheet measuring 3 meters and nails. Other requirements include at least 15 wheelbarrows of ballast, 10 wheelbarrows of sand and 5 bags of cement. Saw dust helps to keep pigs warm and can be easily turned into food when mixed with IMO, a simple micro organisms which occur naturally in the environment made by culturing.

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After constructing a pigsty, you can now source for the high yielding sows. Large White, Landrace,Hamphire and Duroc are the four main pig breed in Kenya. A month old pregnant Large White sow for instance goes for an average of Sh45, 000 while a Duroc and Hamphire retails at Sh40,000. You can get served sows at an affordable price by visiting a Facebook page Pig Farmer –Kenya.

Feed cost

A pig consumes an average of 6 to 8 pounds (3-4kg) of feed per day. This means, it consumes 120kg per month. In Kenya, 70kg of rice bran costs at least Sh500 hence120kg is tentatively Sh900.For a period of 9 month, a farmer will spend at least Sh16, 000 on the two sows. Although the appropriate weaning time for piglets is 6-8 weeks, a farmer is supposed to start giving them solid food when they are 3 weeks old.

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Counting money

A farmer can therefore use the remaining amount majorly on food and daily management of pigsty until piglets reach six months. At this age, most of them should be weighing at least 120kg. If a farmer decide to slaughter all of them, he is likely to get at least 2600kg of pork.  With a kilo of pork currently retailing at Sh400, a farmer is likely to fetch Sh780,000.

If he decides to sell them after three months when sows have been served and when barrows have been castrated, each is likely to fetch him at least Sh40,000 hence an approximate of Sh880,000.

Market

There is no specific pork market in Kenya, however due to popularity of pork products like ham, bacon, sausages and burgers; companies like Farmers Choice located in Kahawa West in the outskirts of Nairobi are buying from farmers. The company which slaughters up to 400 pigs per day pays farmers according to cold dressed weight (CDW) after slaughter. Farmers can also sell their pigs to Lytano slaughter house in Nairobi, Ndumboini in Kiambu, Kabati in Murang’a among others scattered across the country.