Piggery: A Lucrative Investment

By: Ilo Blessing

Piggy banks – we all grew up with them and they were an instrumental piece to inculcate a saving culture. It’s an interesting analogy for pigs to be associated with money given that in many Nigeria households, pig farming as a profession is looked down upon given the stereotypes that pigs are dirty and filthy.

But one 36 year old farmer, Mrs Bukky Oladipupo has taken the unconventional path and is currently rearing pigs against the societal expectations. Last Friday, I paid a visit  to her piggery farm and her inspiring journey to successful pig farming was deeply ingrained in my mind.

Here is Mrs Bukky Oladipupo success story that I hope will motivate more youth to consider pig farming.

Mrs Bukky hail from Abeokuta in Ogunstate and grew up thinking she was going to do farming differently because she had always had that passion for rearing animals but when she got into the business of farming virtually every one was doing the same thing.

This made her turn to pigry farming researching into it she realised that pigs are highly prolific and efficient feed converters. A sow can be bred as early as 8-9 months of age and can farrow twice in a year, producing 6-12 piglets in each farrowing. He was advised that pig farming requires small investment on buildings and equipment but will give quick returns. The marketable weight of pigs can be achieved in 6 to 8 months but still, piggery is not considered as a decent vocation by many Nigerians.

In addition, she attended a training programme on pig farming at ICAR- Nigeria Veterinary Research Institute, which proved motivational and equipped him with basic skills in pig husbandry. To date, she still maintains regular contacts with this institute for technical advice.

Mrs Bukky started her piggery venture with 6 pregnant sows, 6 piglets plus a small housing facility around 2004-2005.

The cleanliness level at this farm which houses around 300 pigs is impeccable. This explains the negligible piglet mortality in his farm otherwise common in many pig farms. She formulates her own pig ration (corn, soybean, rice polish, wheat bran, salt & minerals), thus, saving on feed cost- an important contributor to her profits from piggry.

Her message to the youth “Never listen to those who discourage you trying a new idea, to bring a difference in your life. Pig is a lovely animal worth rearing for profit and prosperity; it’s not a dirty animal for sure as they can give a decent income, if one knows how to raise them well”.

Mrs Bukky Oladipupo is grateful to pigs and all those who helped her in moulding the woman she is today – a rich and famous young woman in her thirties. She is also an internet and tech savvy agripreneur who keep herself updated on pig farming.