Grass-cutter farming: Nigeria’s new job opportunity

With more Nigerians daily going out of job than those with steady employment, many people can earn part-time or full-time incomes from grass-cutter farming, even in a small space in their homes.One of the solutions to help ease the problem of unemployment is for government to create the enabling environment for job seekers to set-up […]

With more Nigerians daily going out of job than those with steady employment, many people can earn part-time or full-time incomes from grass-cutter farming, even in a small space in their homes.
One of the solutions to help ease the problem of unemployment is for government to create the enabling environment for job seekers to set-up grass-cutter business, which requires very little capital.
With many years grass-cutter farming experience, I have developed the skill for identifying the right species, right wards, grouping them according to their species and compiling their data.
Our graduates are roaming the streets daily looking for scarce white-collar jobs. It pains me that these youths do not know that they could make the millions they’re looking for through animal farming. Interestingly, going into grass-cutter farming does not require millions of naira since it can be started with as little as N50,000 or more depending on the scale one wants to start from.
Also known as ‘bush meat’ grass-cutter is the second biggest wild rodent after the porcupine in Africa. About 80,000 tons of grass-cutter meat is consumed yearly, of which only 0.2 percent is provided by domesticated grass-cutters. Its meat is highly favoured in West Africa due to its high protein, low fat and cholesterol content.
Nigerian job seekers can succeed in overcoming the challenges of poverty and food insecurity through micro, small and medium scale grass-cutter production. But first we must empower our people with the right resources and skills then they’ll be able to create a brighter future – for themselves and for the country.
 So profitable is the grass-cutter farming that I have now become a consultant to those who want to be knowledgeable about the business.
To this extent, Jovana Farms is organizing series of seminars and workshops throughout Nigeria so as to enable those interested in the business to acquire the required skills.
The returns on investment is high and fast as people have now come to appreciate the monetary and nutritional values association with grass-cutters such that they want to engage in it. Patronage is equally very high as we have constant demands from eateries, hotels, among others.
As a result of the high demand for grass-cutter, Jovana Farms is giving out their grass-cutter breeders at highly subsidized rates to those who want to start grass-cutter farming immediately. There are few jobs in the country and we can’t expect government to create jobs for everyone. So, time is ripe for Nigerians to look inwards and boost their incomes.
All that is needed to start small-scale grass-cutter farm is N45,000 for a colony of fast growing specie of grass-cutters, N5,000 for the construction of cages in which they will be reared in and grass with which to feed them. It is advisable to buy them at four months old, which is the breeding stock stage. The cages can occupy any available space in your house, store, passage, corridor, under staircase or even the kitchen, so you don’t necessarily need to buy land for the business in the beginning.  Also, you don’t have to spend much money to feed them because they feed on grass.
Grass-cutters are the easiest, cheapest and fastest mini-livestock to rear because one female grass-cutter can give birth from 6 to 10 litters (babies) at a ago. When they are stocked at four months, they start having babies at nine months, which can be either fattened and sold or re-stocked.
Prince Arinze Onebunne, is the CEO Jovana Farms and can be reached on E-mail: [email protected].