How rabbit keeping can change lives

With a niche market for rabbit meat and rabbit fur skin, Kenyans can benefit from rabbit farming, if only people change their attitude to rabbit meat.

The Ndekero challenge, a project to develop a community rabbit-keeping system that can work in partnership with a rabbit agri-business farm, is the business idea that Mr Jacky Foo had for the people of rural Meru.

When Mr Foo entered the online contest for agri-business ideas, he had absolutely no idea that his project would get the final prize.

But after four rounds of contests where he won top prize of $3,000 in the third round, he emerged the grand finale winner of the Africa Rural Connect (ARC) online contest, taking home $20,000 (Sh1.5 Million). He had found out that many families hardly afford to eat meat, due to its high cost.

With a kilo of red meat going for Sh200 or more, not many households can afford to regularly eat the delight. However, rabbits do not require too much space for rearing, and provide both meat and skin if sold, as well as give food to the family.

Rear

Mr Foo thought that if each family within the Ndekero community would rear some rabbits, they would afford to eat meat even once in a month.

The project’s first phase will involve a group of 50 families that will each keep two female rabbits in a large cage.

Its offspring will be sold to a rabbit farm run by the Nazareth Sisters in the region.

The farmers’ first income is expected in three months and after that, each family will get an income monthly.

The target of the farm is to sell at least 100kg of rabbit meat every month. Rabbit hides will be processed and used by women to make products.

Mr Foo will implement the project through Globetree, a non-governmental organisation in Sweden where he is programme officer for environment and sustainable development.

His long term plan involves establishing a 30-acre rabbit and fish farm in collaboration with the Sisters, and hopes to provide part-time, income-generating jobs to the community.

According to him, rabbit keeping in Kenya has mostly been associated with young boys, who do it as a hobby. Rabbits are given as gifts and kept in the backyard; therefore, nobody thinks of them in terms of money-generation.

But with the health benefits of its white meat, demand has increased in many nations across the world, especially after the Bird Flu pandemic that led to the culling of poultry in many Asian countries.

“We need to move from keeping rabbits as a form of hobby, to rearing them for the mass markets, because there is demand for rabbit meat that will take a while to be fully met.”

He adds that presently, China is the largest exporter of rabbit meat in the world, with India on its heels. Mr Foo pointed out that demand for the meat is so high in Sweden where he lives, that only a third of it can be met.

He also hints at a possible fur and skin market in Europe, where hunting of wild animals for fur is banned.

“The seed money I received will also be used to process rabbit hides, and possibly prepare items such as souvenirs for sale.”

Although the prize money sounds like a lot of cash, his project will need a lot more money to be fully completed.

Untapped

He feels that the local market for rabbit meat is still largely untapped, with a kilo of the meat going for Sh250 at the butcheries. It is also sold in local five-star hotels at Sh350 per kilo.

“Last year, a local supermarket chain, Nakumatt, needed a constant supply of rabbit meat from farmers but unfortunately, its order was not met, because very few people rear the animals,” said Foo.

The gestation period for a rabbit is 28 days, and a mother rabbit can have between five to 10 young ones in her litter. Young rabbits, which are given commercial feed can mature within three months, although normally, a rabbit takes six months to reach maturity.

Available

For the Ndekero project, the rabbits’ source of food will be locally available green foods that can be fetched from the farm.

The ARC online contest had been going on for five months starting August, and got over 15,000 business ideas from all over Africa posted to the site.

The project will connect local families with the school farm, and employ up to 10 parents who have been unable to pay school fees for their children. It will also include school children who will be given rabbits to tend, as part of their learning and money-generating activities.

The projects will help the rural population have a regular source of income, enjoy healthy eating and achieve food security in their homes, through in-expensive money-generating projects.

Commending the inclusive nature of the project, ARC manager Molly Mattessich said that the rabbit keeping idea generated a lot of discussion on the website, and the panel of judges were impressed by its nature to be a sustainable, profit-making project that fully involves the local community.

The contest, started by former peace corps volunteers who served in Africa, was about business ideas. It took place from August this year, and ideas were uploaded on the ARC website and voted for by those who visited the site, to help strengthen agricultural development in Africa.

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