Growing a farm from subsistence to large scale: Bottoms up!

Alsatian

Pitbull

Its amazing what you can cram into a little space. At my house in Ota, Ogun State of Nigeria I have goats, banana trees and fish ponds. I like to believe that its a sign of what's to come. I see myself retiring to a serene easy going life on a large farm where I will grow crops for both subsistence and market produce business as well as raise animals. We started the fish with dismal 2000 and the goats with one female. For the fish we have to buy fingerlings but the goats have begun to multiply by themselves. Land is the challenge. I am looking for one acre even though I do not have the cash to buy it yet. But you know what they say: where there is a will there is always a way.
If I have my way, will not stop at the goats, fish and bananas. I fancy myself raising dogs. Not mongrels. Rare breed. There is a security alert in Nigeria today and part of the self sufficiency of the successful business person is  to rely on as few people as possible. There is no doubt that security demands that people should have dogs, so that they can send miscreants away with a bark. But imagine a doberman, Alsatian or pit bull biting its way into an unwanted intruders thigh. The bite will maim the person for life. He will limp like Jacob in the bible who had an angel dislocate his leg.
The focus for many people in Nigeria today is to see what they can do for themselves. The chances of getting a loan are very slim. The agricultural loans that government is singing a song about are for a chosen few. Not everyone can have the opportunity to get them.  So those of us who don't have access have to fight for ourselves.
The soil around the house is very fertile. We have grown green vegetables from that soil. Spinach and Okra to be specific. Although, as we approach the dry season I am aware that those crops will be difficult to raise unless we are ready to consistently water them.
We could do a lot on a acre of land. I understand that poultry farmers have a large demand for maize. I have been thinking that instead of bothering myself with chicken perhaps I should just grow the components of their feed for them. The feed market is another big business. Animal feeds are known to constitute a large proportion that goes into the agricultural market. Fish feed, Chicken feed, goats and cows also have their mash and concentrate that enables them to attain maximum weight for sale. It is said that farmers spend more raising their livestock than they spend on themselves in a life time. The difference is that they get it back through sales.Both chicken and fish feed have hit the roof in terms of prices per kilo in Nigeria. The tragedy for fish feed is the non availability of starter, a component needed to help grow the stock while they are still young. The components comprise of high proteins substances that give fish and chicken the wherewithal to grow to table size. The protein foundation is critical to their survival. Sadly, Nigerian companies have not been able to make much headway with the production of starter feed. Farmers have to rely on imports which are too expensive an investment for the farmer who wishes to break even from his sales. Some farmers  have started milling their own feed so as to reduce their reliance on the imports, but the components are difficult to understand for maximum effect. Most farmers are experimenting. For the fish feed, we find that locally milled feed does not float so the fish hardly get to eat it before it sinks and the farmer would end up draining massive residue with dirty water when he decides to drain the ponds.
Once the land is acquired me and my family have a lot of experience to use on the main farm. I have 20 ponds in mind to raise about 50,000 fish every four months, 100 goats, 20 dogs and at least two plots of banana trees and maize. It would be a worthy investment.

Maize farm