‘Splitting ginger fetches me N300,000’

As farmers step up cultivation of different crops in the country, young Nigerians are increasingly making money by offering their services in the sector. Mohammed Bello, who is in his early 30s, described to Daily Trust  on Sunday, how he earned a living splitting ginger, adding that he splits about 10 bags of ginger daily. […]

As farmers step up cultivation of different crops in the country, young Nigerians are increasingly making money by offering their services in the sector.

Mohammed Bello, who is in his early 30s, described to Daily Trust  on Sunday, how he earned a living splitting ginger, adding that he splits about 10 bags of ginger daily.

“My work is being measured based on the number of bags I can split per day. If you are as fast as I am you can split about 10 bags of ginger daily. Each bag amounts to N1,000, and I can split as many as 10 bags; therefore, my take-home pay is N10,000 daily,” he said.

He further said that if he worked for 30 days, he could earn about N300,000 at the end of the month.

When asked about the stability of his work, he said although it is seasonal, harvest period could be full of activities, but that during planting season they engaged themselves in other work.

A worker, Mu’azu Zakari, in his mid-20s said working  in the farms gave him the opportunity to be busy instead of sitting idle or engaging himself in   violent acts, drug abuse or other vices. 

He reiterated that if such thoughts are in the minds of the youths, the alarming rate of employed graduates will drastically reduce.

Just like any other job, Abdul Ila revealed that the challenges are nothing compared to the advantages, stressing that the only challenge was that one could get injured by the shape knife used in splitting the ginger.

“But one needs to be extra careful in handling the objects even though we try to protect our hands from sustaining injuries,” he stated.

These young men, about eight in number, from Kaduna, Katsina and other northern states have taken the splitting of ginger as means of livelihood, to support themselves and their families.