02/11/2016
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Young entrepreneur strikes gold in fish
farming
by Daniel Essiet, November 02, 2016 at 12:04 am in Small
Business and Entrepreneurship
Catfish business is helping young Nigerians to earn extra
income and put more food on the table, as typified by Abiodun
Eniola, who runs a fishery business, raising catfish. DANIEL
ESSIET reports.
If there is an entrepreneur recording success in fisheries
business, Abiodun Eniola is one. Life has changed dramatically
for him since he took up fish farming. Staying focused, he has
grown his aquaculture business in the same way nature grows
a tree.
He studied Urban and Regional Planning from the Federal
Polytechnic, Ilaro, where he obtained in HND (distinction).
“ I did my Post-Graduate Diploma in the same course at Yaba
College of Technology in 2011. I got into agribusiness (catfish
farming specifically) six months after my National Youth
Service around June 2008.”
Going into fish farming was not his first preference as a
vocation. Like any other youth of his age, Eniola had dreamt of
securing a job. Despite his good result, he could not bag any.
Instead of losing patience, he tried his luck in fish farming.
His words: “ The idea came through my inability to secure a
white collar job after my National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). I
was offered a job in a poultry and catfish farm as a poultry
attendant. I discovered that I was more passionate taking care
of catfish more than laying birds in our farm. My passion led
me to seek for more knowledge outside what I was taught an
our farm. I worked in that farm for more than six years and my
highest salary ever was N25,000, probably because I was not a
professional in the field of agriculture. Yet I needed to earn
more to meet my rising expenditure.”
He started with N200,000, being his entire life savings. He felt
confident that he could get back the investment within two
years. Today, the business is big with three direct and up to
seven other indirect staff. He has 15 ponds.He is happy,
working hard to take care of the fish so they grow quickly from
baby fish into large fish that people can eat.
With more than eight years’ experience in the business, Eniola
said fish farming business is profitable.
”I was also privileged to get information on expenditure and
Income of the farm. I concluded that catfish farming is more
profitable than poultry, easier to set up and requires minimum
fixed capital.”
He is proud of his accomplishment so far. He said: ‘’I remember
when there was bountiful harvest in crop farming. I was able to
get my input at cheaper rate and I was able to make around 140
per cent in one season (six months).” To be a successful fish
farmer, he gave the business all it required. ” I work extremely
hard….I work 365 days every year. My work is also a way of
relaxation for me’’.
Besides being a successful entrepreneur, he has become an
inspiration to other fish farmers. People come to him for
expertise and assistance, both in terms of technique and
finance.
But the success story has not been without challenges. He
recalled: “ I could remember when I was in a hurry to stock my
ponds; I ended up with poor quality juvenile from an unknown
supplier. I paid dearly for my impatience. I will rather wait for
months to have quality seed than wasting the whole season
raising fishes that will not do well.”
Like small scale entrepreneurs,, he faced significant barriers in
entering new markets, such as securing financing and learning
how to responsibly grow the business.
A major challenge he faced was the high cost of fish-feed,
which takes up nearly 60 per cent of the production cost in fish
farming.
In 10 years’ time, he sees the business going international…
beyond the nation’s border. His is passionate about feeding
people who are hungry and giving people who do not have an
opportunity to have a job or create a business that could
support their families.
His hard work, enthusiasm to learn the new technologies, and
the interest to share his experience with novices inching to enter
into the aqua culture, make him differ from other farmers. He
advises young entrepreneurs to pursue their passion because
that is the key to their success.
He also runs training to impart his knowledge on aqua culture
to other farmers, especially starters to the sector. The corporate
package he offers includes giving initial advice to the farmer,
constructing the ponds, managing the ponds, harvesting and
marketing the fish. They realised that many farmers fail
because they lack professional guidance and proper
management.
One of his mentees is Bamidele Onibalusi, a frontline writing
consultant.
His words: “I first got into catfish farming in 2014 when my
teacher,Mr. Abiodun Eniola, told me about the prospects of
catfish farming and how profitable it has been for him. I was
looking for businesses with good profit potential, and that I can
easily scale, at the time so I was naturally excited when he
recorded as much as 100 per cent profit in a season (usually
six months), several times since starting his catfish farming
business. I got into catfish farming because I could see returns
within a relatively short time (six months), and I can gradually
scale my business to succeed without much supervision from
me. I started my catfish farming with about 11,000 fishes. I
made some mistakes and recorded some losses in the early
stage, but I’ve since learned from my losses and things have
been better.”
He said catfish farming is profitable. “ Yes, catfish farming is a
sustainable business. Even though I had a loss during my first
attempt, I learned from experience — by getting good juveniles,
carefully monitoring feed I give my fishes, and ensuring my
fishes are properly cared for. As a result, baring any
uncontrollable disasters (such as flood or disease outbreak), my
business has been profitable. I’m gradually expanding my
catfish farming business, and my farm currently employs about
four to five people at any given time. If one can understand the
system, especially how to use locally available ingredients
instead of expensive imported materials, catfish farming can be
a very profitable and sustainable business. ”
He rears up to 20,000 fishes, which grow up to one to two
kilogramme before harvest.
He wants to enlighten farmers that they could make money
from the trade as well as improve their diet as fish is highly
nutritious.
