By Amaka Agweugbo

The Managing Director of Jovana Farms, Prince Arinze Onebunne, has said increased awareness in grasscutter and snail farming is the remedy to the rising unemployment and poverty in the country.

He asserted that one of the ways to help ease the problem of unemployment and eradicate poverty is for people to embrace farming, particularly snail and grasscutter farming which are instant money spinners. This, he noted, prompted him to put up a workshop to train people in the business.

“Going into this business does not require millions of naira since it can be started with N50,000 or more, depending on the scale you want to start from. The return on investment is high and fast as people have now come to appreciate the monetary and nutritional values associated with grasscutters and snail that they want to engage in it.

“To this extent, Jovana Farms is organizing series of training and workshops in different starts so as to enable those interested in engaging in the business to acquire the skills. Benefits to be derived include developing the skills for identifying the right species, right wards, grouping them according to their species and compiling their data.

The primary objective is to bring this golden opportunity to the door step of every Nigerian as a very sure and potent means of conquering poverty and solving the rising unemployment problem in Nigeria,” he stated.

Also known as ‘bush meat’, grasscutter is the second biggest wild rodent after the porcupine in Africa. About 80,000 tons of grasscutter meat is consumed yearly, of which only 0.2 per cent is provided by domesticated grasscutters. Its meat is highly favoured and is preferred in West Africa due to its high protein, low fat and cholesterol content.

Patronage is equally very high as there is constant demand from eateries, beer palours, hotels, and the likes.
According to Onebunne, all that is needed to start a small_scale grasscutter farm is N40,000 for a colony of grasscutters, 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 or even the kitchen, so you don’t necessarily need to buy a land for the business. Also, you don’t have to spend money to feed them because they feed on grass,” he said.

Onebunne said that grasscutters are the cheapest and fastest livestocks to rear because one female grasscutter can give birth to 5 to 8 litters (babies) at once. He added that they are best bought when they are 4 months old as they start having babies at 8 months, which can either be sold or reared.