Did you know that the biggest pig farm in Africa is actually in Nigeria, Lagos to be Precise. “Are you for real?” This was my reaction the first time I heard that the biggest pig farm in Africa is In Nigeria. I once wrote an article on How to start a pig farm in Nigeria. For those that missed it, you can read it. I never believe something that massive could be located in Nigeria. It was amazing and an eye opener for me. This led me to visit the popular Oke Aro Pig farm which is termed to be the biggest pig farm in Africa.
Wow! Wow!! Wow!!! Was the only word I could make upon my visit to the farm. In less than 5 minutes, my mentality about pigs changed forever. The first thing that came to my mind was, I thought they said pigs are reared or raised in the refuse grounds and dirty places. Then different things people have said about pigs started ringing in my head. For the first time my perception about pigs and pig farming changed. I became curious, I got excited, I was asking all sorts of questions both meaningful and dumb ones and the replies i got even got me more excited. One thing i also noticed about Pig farmers is majority of them are educated, they are very innovative and they use technological tools than most of us.
If you are thinking of starting a pig farm in Nigeria and you don’t know where to go to get trainning or a place to start or probably you want to carry out market research. Oke Aro is the best place to go. But also you have to be careful to avoid getting into the wrong hands.
Also Read : How to Start a Pig Farm in Nigeria
The pig farm is situated on land measuring several hundreds of acres and hectares of land somewhere in between the Lagos and Ogun border in a town called Giwa, Oke Aro. It is less than 30 minutes drive from Agege and about 10 minutes drive from Iju, Ishaga. The name of the Pig farm is the one and only Oke Aro Piggery farm. With What i saw at Oke Aro Pig Estate this gave me more reasons to invest in Agriculture.
Also read: Why You should Invest in Agriculture
Oke Aro Pig farm has been in existence for over two decades and i heard it has over 2,000 farmers both small scale and medium size farmers. With the numerous number of pigs I saw at this farm, then once again I started asking and wondering who eats pork? I was surprised when i saw 5 big trucks loading pigs out of the farm. I was told that about 5 full trailer loads of pigs are being transported out of the farm on a daily basis. What!!! 5 trailer load? This got me even more interested. In less than 10 minutes of visiting Oke Aro farm, I realized most of what I have been hearing about pigs are not true, they are mere superstition and misconceptions. For the first time in my life I actually started liking pigs and pork meats. Pigs are raised in pens which are clean and healthy environment. They don’t constitute nuisance to the environment unlike their cattle counterparts.
How Pig are Raised in Nigeria – Pig Pens
Also read: How to Start snail farming in Nigeria
OKE ARO PIG FARM
Throughout my time at the popular Oke Aro Pig farm. I was re-educated, excited, well informed and above all my love for pork increased by 100%. I took pictures, made some videos. Sit back relax and lemme take you through my journey to the biggest pig farm in Africa. Welcome to Oke Aro Pig Farm.
Pig feeds
Section of Oke Aro Pig farm
More Pictures From Oke Aro pig farm
Common Myth and misconceptions About Pig and Pig farming In Nigeria
Here are the Common Myth and misconceptions About Pig and Pig farming In Nigeria Backed with Facts
Before you go on please just have an open mind, don’t worry I used to feel this way about pigs too until I did my research and also saw the way Pigs are being raised. This changed my perception totally. You can also go online to do your research too. Here are the common misconception about pigs in Nigeria, Africa and the world in general.
1. Nobody Eats Pigs: Now many people believe that nobody eats pork or only few people eats pig meat or pork. Did you know that the most consumed meat in the world right now is actually pig meat (pork). Yes you heard me. About 40% of all the meat sources in the world is pork.
2. Pigs are fatty: Pigs are not fatty as we thought, you can check out the fat content of pigs and cows, you will be shocked.
3. Eating Pigs is not healthy: After careful research online, i realised that pork meats are even healthier than cow meat because pork are white meat and cow is a red meat and we all know the effects of red meat compared to white meat.
4. Pigs are black: I am sure most of us grew up knowing the local pig breed which are usually the wild ones from the bush. But these days pigs have been domesticated and there are different species or breeds that are being breed, examples are the large white , landrace, camborough and the duroc.
5. Pigs Are Dirty Animals: Though a lot of you won’t believe this, but it’s the fact, pigs are not actually dirty as we thought. Did you know that pigs will never eat their poo. We all grew up to know the local dirty ones that are always looking unkempt. The reason why they wallow in mud is to keep their body temperature cool.
6. Pigs don’t eat poo: You will hardly find a pig eating its poo unlike some animals that feeds on their poo.
7. Pork Meat is not sweet: Now who ever said this has definitely not tasted pork. I cannot explain the taste, you just have to try it to know. My favourite is the asun pork and the fried pork. The funny park is when pork is cooked, you can barely differentiate it from other meats.
8. Pigs are reared in dirty environment: You should please visit a pig farm to really understand how pigs are reared.
Trucks waiting to load Pigs Out of Oke Aro farm
