Precious Muka Botha, a Young Pioneer Snail Slime Farmer

Making a revenue of over 100, 000 Kwacha in 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic is our very own 25 year old Zambian young woman, Precious Muka Botha who is making her living off of snails.

Miss Botha is a mother of two who is currently studying to be a clinical officer. Aside from medicine, she also dedicates her time to her snail farming business (heliciculture).

So why would one decide to go into heliciculture?

When asked about why she went into the field, Miss Botha said she decided to take an interest in snail farming because while growing up she had the darkest skin in the family. Overwhelmed by her insecurities, she decided to start bleaching her skin in an attempt to fit in. This, unfortunately, caused her skin to react.

It was because of this skin condition that she decided to research on ways to better her skin and return it to its natural state. It was while researching that she came across the remedy of using snail slime.

The snail slim significantly improved her skin’s condition and this led to some of her friends trying her products, which proved successful.

However, that is not all the snails are used for. Their uses include:

1. Meat; in certain restaurants and the

2. Snail Shells; which are either polished for decor or they are crushed and used as calcium in feed for animals.

Not only is she one of the only two commercial snail farmers in the country but through value addition; she maximizes the use of the snail by extracting the slime, uses the snail as meat and also uses the shells as a source of calcium in feed.

However, like every other farmer out there, Miss Botha, faces challenges and is not immune to environmental conditions. The biggest challenge she faces include high mortality of snails due to lead poisoning in Kabwe town. She loses around 300 snails a month and has thus opted to shift her operations from Kabwe to Chipata in the Eastern province.

Miss Botha wants the industry to grow and is always looking for ways to teach others about snail farming. “When it comes to the global market, snail beauty products accounted for USD 3.7 billion in 2019 and is estimated to grow to USD 12 billion by 2029,” She carries on.

She is very eager to grow her brand and is hopeful that others will join her in her quest.

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