How teenagers make money from what farmers ignore

Teenage boys and girls in rural areas are making money from what farmers ignore and consider not important on their farms. The teenagers patiently go through rice farms where owners harvested but ignored those failing behind, considering as waste. From proceeds from the sale of this leftover harvest, they provide food for their parents and […]

Teenage boys and girls in rural areas are making money from what farmers ignore and consider not important on their farms.

The teenagers patiently go through rice farms where owners harvested but ignored those failing behind, considering as waste. From proceeds from the sale of this leftover harvest, they provide food for their parents and support them financially.  

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Our correspondent spoke with some of the boys seen in newly harvested farms scouting for what the farmers abandoned after harvest. 

At farms in the Gafan area of Bunkure Local Government of Kano State, Daily Trust on Sunday saw the young people with sticks, empty sacks and basins as they engaged in the job. 

It was gathered that the children come to the farms from morning and work till evening in search of the abandoned grains. 

Speaking to our correspondent, one of the girls, Rahina Sa’idu, 13, said they came from the nearby village. She said almost every child in the village was into that means of survival. 

According to her, in one hectare of rice farm they can get half of a sack. She added that they preferred rice to other grains. 

She explained that they normally gathered the dust, including the grass and use sticks to beat it until they see what they are looking for.  

“As we are beating the dust, the rice will go down while we are removing the dust until we see to its end. At the end, we will get the rice and pack it in our sacks.

“We come here almost every day. And we are surviving only on this. We always have our younger ones to check for us if people harvest. Sometimes we come ourselves to get notice of farms that are ready for harvest. 

“In this business, we are doing a lot of things. We support our parents because they use what we get here to feed us. Some of us even use the money to buy wardrobe and bed sets for their marriage, and so on,” she said. 

Also, a teenage boy who identified himself as Yaroro said he was sent by his mother to get whatever was possible from the farm for them to use at home. 

Another girl, Jamila Isyaku, said they got more from farms after the rain as almost all the farmers would have harvested their produce. She said that at the end of the season they would go round many farms to see what they could get. 

“This is rainy season, so not all the farmers would harvest. But at the end of this season we will have more. In fact, we are also waiting for harvest like the farmers,” she said. 

The owner of one of the farms, Alhaji Usman Musa, who was seen gathering sacks of rice, said they didn’t mind whatever the children get from their farms as they can’t do the hard work they (children) are doing. 

“How do we get time to do this? They can do this for the whole day to get a quarter or half of a sack. That is if the place is not dry. This is rainy season and our rice hasn’t dried well, and we can’t wait. This is the norm here. We don’t mind since they will not touch our yields before we harvest,” he said.