Green Network charity pig farm in Nigeria is piloting a new sustainable bio-system that could transform Nigeria’s food security.
The Green Network Farm in Osun state in Nigeria raises pigs fed on cassava and sells meat to local people at affordable prices bringing much-needed protein to impoverished local people.
The charity has been running this programme very successfully since 2017.
Accountancy degree holder and certified pig farmer, Niran Adigun Founder of the Green Network, alighted on the transformational properties of the black soldier fly larvae. He realised that if you introduce black soldier fly larvae into the pig production process then you transform what one Farm is doing today into a systemic approach that could revolutionise food security and economic poverty in Nigeria.
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In a highly sustainable cycle, black soldier fly larvae are fed on pig manure. This reduces the methane and other greenhouse gases produced by manure while creating high protein, fat-rich biomass suitable for feeding the pigs on the Green Network Farm, and which can be sold to other local farmers raising pigs, fish and chicken. Black soldier fly larvae are cheap to buy, have no running costs and are resilient to drought, food supply and lack of oxygen and thrive in warm climates, making them ideally suited to the Nigerian environment.
The beauty of Niran’s idea is that The Green Network does not need very much money to make a big difference.
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The Green Network are looking to raise £7,700. This will set up the Farm to produce 2 tonnes of black soldier fly larvae every month. This will sustain the pigs on their farm and produce surplus they can sell to other local fish and poultry farmers. The Green Network farmers will help these farmers to set up their own sustainable black soldier fly stocks. While the nutritional organic fertiliser produced by the black soldier fly larvae on the Farm will be sold to nearby small-scale fruit and vegetable farmers.
People like Tunde who hold a diploma in accounting but, at 27 years old, had been unemployed for the last three years. From the initial training and five pigs he had from the Green Network, he has grown that herd to 60 and is successfully supporting his family.
Around the corner from the Green Network Farm, single mother Adenike, was struggling to work and bring up her child. Since training with the Green Network, she has a smallholding grown from her five Green Network pigs which she rears and sells from her back yard. She can now look after her child and make enough money to put aside some savings.
“Once the primary source of government revenue and foreign exchange earnings, agriculture in Nigeria has suffered from decades of underinvestment, corruption, policy neglect, and lost opportunity. Today, despite its vast agricultural potential, the country is a net food importer of food, with the vast majority of people engaged in agriculture operating at subsistence level.”
Centre for Strategic and International Studies
The Green Network is already making a positive impact on food security by sustainably raising pigs to provide local people with much needed sources of cost-effective protein. They have a proven track record of training local people in their sustainable farming practices, particularly women and young men who are struggling to find work.
Pigs produce more meat from a lower amount of feed of any other farm animals. They give birth quite fast and have as many as 20 piglets in a year. They are also resilient; they have the lowest mortality rate of any livestock.
Pigs make money sense. In West Africa, the pork market alone accounts for about $3 billion but 80% of that is from importation. The pork market does not count sausage, ham, bacon etc. Imagine if more pigs were both raised and sold in West Africa? Pigs represent a great deal of untapped revenue in West Africa.
