Snail Farmer Named Winner in Sh3.5 Million Regional Competition

The Kono Farm, a successful snail farming venture, was among the five winners of the sixth annual Give Work Challenge (GWC) in East Africa.

The Leila Jana Foundation (LJF) recognized Kono Farm, alongside Mvuvi from Kenya, Mawejje Creations and the Reusable Sanitary Pad Project for their outstanding businesses. The winning entrepreneurs will each receive a grant of $6,000 and one year of mentorship, totalling $30,000 to support their businesses and create a positive impact in their communities. Liliosa Mbirimi, LJF Program Director, says that the GWC grant and mentorship will help the winners have a larger impact on their communities and positively impact budding entrepreneurs.

Kono Farm was honoured for promoting sustainable snail agriculture as an alternative protein source and skincare ingredient. The LJF aims to follow the mission of its namesake, Leila Janah, by alleviating global poverty through giving work, not handouts. Four renowned companies have recently invested in snail farming in Kenya which has been growing in popularity over the past decade.

This industry has been rewarding farmers handsomely with a kilo of snail meat valued at Sh1,500. Snails are also considered to be nutritious with 70% of their mass being low-calorie protein. The Jomo Kenyatta Institute of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) has recently ventured into the snail industry, extracting slime from 3000 snails, translating to 10 litres a week at Ksh1,200 per litre.

Snail farming has created 322 jobs for previously unemployed youth with 37 ventures receiving northwards of Sh29 million since 2018. There is a substantial global demand for snails with Rosemary Odinga, the daughter of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, launching her own snail enterprise on her vast 25-acre property located in Kiserian.