By Samuel Messo
TRT Afrika, Nairobi, Kenya
Wangui Waweru, was with a Cameroonian on a bus traveling from the Ugandan capital Kampala in early 2018 to the capital of Kenya, Nairobi. Little did she know that this would be a journey that would transform her life.
As they chatted, the Cameroonian opened his lunch box and offered Wangui his delicacy. Wangui hesitated but finally decided to taste it, albeit a little.
"Do you know what you just ate?" the man asked her, knowing very well that it was not a common dish in East Africa. Mutton? She asked him.
''No! You have eaten snail meat,'' answered the Cameroonian man.
Wangui had already eaten snail meat which is also known as escargot, for the first time. ''It's not bad," Wangui said.
In the course of their conversation, she learnt he was in snail business and she later developed interest in the business when she returned to Kenya and then engaged in the farming of snails.
Wangui, a mother from the outskirts of Kenya's city of Nakuru, began to travel between her country and Uganda as well as Cameroon for the business.
"This type of farming is unique. In fact, some neighbours distanced themselves from me when I started. You know snails are not considered edible by many people in my country," she tells TRT Afrika in her home in Nakuru county.
At the furthest corner of Wangui’s compound is an enclosure with several small chambers - each designed to accommodate hundreds of snails at a time.
Here the snails are fed with fresh vegetables from a nearby kitchen garden as well as water and egg shells as a source of calcium. Wangui's farm is known as Golden Snail Farm.
“Snail farming has more benefits with higher returns. For example, I do extract slime from them which I use to make skin care products. There is also caviar fish, which I would say is the most expensive,” she says with a big smile.
The mother of three trains youth in her neighbourhood. They have embraced the farming and are also using snail shells to produce ornaments like earrings for sale among other products. This has given many young people jobs and income.
She hopes that more Africans will engage in alternative farming activities for their economic benefits.
“I’m glad, snail farming is catering for my basic needs. It would be good to see more people thinking out of the box and trying out different kinds of farming,” Wangui concludes
