Investing in fish smoking, packaging, distribution

One of the ways to fight unemployment is identification and creation of investment and income opportunities for people. Fish smoking, packaging and distribution is one of the investment opportunities for Nigerians, especially for fish farmers who are desirous of diversifying and making more profit. But an investor in this project can also simply buy fish from fish farms and smoke, package and distribute.

Fish smoking and packaging is one of the ways of preserving harvested fish to attain higher shelf life. Not only this, smoked fishes are in high demand by Nigerians, especially the middle- and upper-class. There is also export market for smoked fish.

The project is also a step to strengthen the informal sector, which is the bed rock of any economy.

Fish smoking is very lucrative and profitable. The return on investment is above 50percent and the project can pay back itself within one year of take-off.

The project is technically feasible as all inputs (100%) are available locally. Not only this, the ease of management is not in doubt. The energy requirement is also minimal. Social benefits identified are job and income opportunities creation, mitigation against waste, food security and improvement in dietary pattern of people.

Technical information

Fresh fishes of sizeable weight are procured from fish farmers and are brought to the smoking centre. The fishes undergo the processes of cleaning, spicing and smoking before being packed ready for distribution to consumers. The finished products are packed in 500g and 1kg weights to cater for the diverse interest of various consumers.

To establish this project, the procedures are acquisition of site. The beauty of the project is that it can be started in the backyard.

After procuring good site, acquisition of the smoking equipment follows. On acquisition of equipment, investors will identify fish farms where they can purchase the fishes on regular basis. Serious minded and genuine investors can be assisted in the establishment of this project.

Financial implication

A sum of N1,600 000 will be required to start the project. This is broken down as follows:

Pre-investment : N100,000

Accommodation : N500,000

Equipment : N500,000

Working capital : N500,000

Total N1,600,000

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Profitability

An aggressive investor can smoke up to 30 tons of fish per annum. A minimum profit of N150,000 is realisable from a ton. This translates to N4.5 million profit per annum. This is no doubt a good means of livelihood for Nigerians. Serious minded investors can be assisted in the realisation of this dream.

OLUMAKINDE ONI