Description

Until the late 1970’s when hydrocarbon was discovered in commercial quantity in Oloibiri ,present day Bayelsa state , Agriculture remained the mainstay of the economy contributing over 90% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country as against the less than 40% it now contributes. Despite the prominent role of the Petroleum sector, Agriculture still employs about 70% of the entire population both formal and informal.

Though agricultural production in Nigeria has declined over the years factors like high unemployment rate, the crash of the stock market in Nigeria and the global economic recession is having a positive effect on the agricultural sector especially in the production of micro-livestock’s like poultry,snail,fish and goats. This renewed interest in agriculture is creating a large and expanding market for animal feed in Nigeria that is estimated at over four million (4,000,000) MT annually.

Animal feed are required for the proper development of livestock and depending on the type of livestock and the stage of production of the livestock some of the raw materials required in animal feed production includes maize, whole wheat, oyster shells, bone meal, meat meal, blood meal, fish meal, Soya cake, groundnut cake, palm kernel cake and a host of others. Though the investor can make money supply the other products to animal feed millers, the focus of this report would be on oil bearing seed cakes.

Cakes are bye-product gotten from the processing of oil bearing seeds. They form a very important component of animal feeds by providing the much needed protein.