Posted by By Kingsley Adegboye on
MOST people will, naturally, shrink away from blood, whether that of an animal or a fellow human being. The reason for this is obvious. When blood is spilled......
Useful leads
*Register with Blood Meal producers Union
*Be an apprentice for, at least, two years
*Commence business with as little as N5,000:00
MOST people will, naturally, shrink away from blood, whether that of an animal or a fellow human being. The reason for this is obvious. When blood is spilled, it evokes a sobering, if not repelling feeling that borders on fear and superstition in those that come in contact with it.
But not so for Francis Okechukwu, who makes his living from collecting blood from the abattoir and converting it into animal feeds. Francis, who is 35 years old, hails from Enugu State in the Eastern part of Nigeria. He came to Lagos several years ago after his secondary school education in search of a job to guarantee his livelihood while in the city.
However, having tried his hands on various menial jobs without success, Francis decided, eight years ago, to try his luck in a business that many would regard as conferring no dignity on those involved in it because of its perceived crude nature.
Francis is into the production of blood meal as animal feeds that involves the purchase of raw blood from the slaughtered cows at the abattoir, cooking the blood in drums with fire woods for, at least, three hours. After cooking, the blood is removed from the drums and spread on the ground to be sliced or cut to pieces, while waiting to be dried by the sun, which may last for several days depending on the weather. After the drying process, the product is thereafter bagged in sacks ready for sale.
The Enugu State born self-employed man, who said he was introduced into the business by a man he served for some time, explained the various processes involved in the production of blood meal into animal feeds. According to him: 'We collect the raw blood from the abattoir where they kill cows. We pay for the blood called waste. We pay to the management of the abattoir on a monthly basis. I can't disclose the amount. We transport it to our site where we cook it in drums.
'The cooking sometimes lasts three hours. We use fire woods which we buy from fire wood sellers. After cooking, we remove it from the drums and pack it in sacks, squeeze the sacks so that the water in the blood will be drained off to make the drying faster. We also use cutlas to cut the thick blood into pieces in order to make it dry fast.
'When the sun is intense, it takes two days to dry. After drying, we bag it for sale to our customers who are pig farmers, fish farmers and poultry owners, who use the blood meal as animal feeds". He also informed that the blood meal producers sell in kilogrammes to customers, and that a kilogramme sells for N25.00". He, however, explained that the production of the animal feeds is usually in abundance during dry season, but it becomes scarce during the rainy season because of inadequate sunshine to dry it.
Talking about the constraints of the business, he said the major constraint is rain, without sun, there is no other means of drying the blood meal. 'We depend mainly on sunshine to dry it. But during the rains, our business suffers because sometimes in three days there may be no sunshine to dry it. We don't have any other means of drying it. So, rain is a serious problem to us.
'Another problem is that the price our customers pay for the feed is low, when you take into consideration the amount of efforts and time put into the production of blood meal. You know blood, particularly when it is cooked and left for days smells terribly. This is how we stay here from morning till night in this smelly environment. The smoke from the fire during the cooking of the blood is there to give you red eyes all the time.
'The farmers who buy the product believe that the process of producing the blood meal is not hygienic enough for the feed to attract reasonable price. We cannot afford the electric cookers because of its high cost. But if the government can assist us to acquire constructed electric cookers, it will help boost our business as we don't have enough capital to purchase them," Francis complained
Explaining that he has been in the business for not less than eight years, he informed that the business is an old one existing for decades, adding that the business is not particularly a gold mine, though those who are determined to stay in it are sure to make a decent livelihood from it at the end of the day. 'We cannot say that the business is particularly lucrative. But I must tell you that those of us in it for several years have no cause to abandon or quit, so far. We are surviving in it and we only hope that things get better for us.
'With the economic situation of the country, it is better for one to be doing something than doing nothing. There are no jobs anywhere in Nigeria; businesses are folding up due to one problem or the other. Under this situation, one should not say because he is not making much profit in his business, he should abandon it. I think the most important thing is that one is busy doing something to earn a living at the end of the day. If the economic situation of the country changes for the better, the prospect of our business is sure to get better too," he declared, rather resignedly.
To prospective blood meal producers, Francis said for the purpose of knowing the nitty gritty of the business, such people must register with Blood Meal Producers Union, without which no one can be involved in the production of blood meal. He said such people will have to work for some people in the business for not less than two years before they can successfully be on their own. He, however, noted that with an amount as little as N5,000, one can start the business.
He said more members are welcome into the fold, as there are more than enough customers to buy the product from the producers, pointing out that 'demand at present is higher than supply. So, we encourage new members to come and join the Union to be able to meet the demands of farmers making use of the product," Francis said.