Hillside Rabbits at Harare Agricultural Show - 2014

When we started keeping rabbits it was a hobby and we never expected to make any money from it, let alone make a living from it. Over the years our approach to the hobby changed and we started to make money off the "project" (not hobby anymore). A big push towards this was the hyperinflation we experienced in Zimbabwe between the year 2003 and 2008 which needed us to be innovative to sustain ourselves. With the introduction of the US dollar in 2009 we had no other source of income at the time except the rabbits and it was then that our “project” started to evolve into our source of livelihood.

We have faced many challenges since we started keeping rabbits, but we have seen how these small livestock transformed our lifestyle and our perception of the world around us. We are now committed to growing this business (not a project anymore) to its full potential and hopefully take the ‘rabbit as an alternative protein source’ message to our fellow countrymen in the process. We continue to witness increasing interest in rabbits for meat, but also the number of breeder’s seems to continue to increase.

This is by all accounts very positive news, but as a business, we need to protect our share of that market. It is with this in mind that we are intending to start attending the Harare Agricultural Show from next year (2014) onwards to showcase our rabbits and hopefully interact with other stakeholders about the prospects of this growing sub-sector. From having attended the Harare Agricultural Show over the years, the rabbit section is always poorly displayed and in many ways is an after-thought by the show’s organisers and exhibiting institutions. We intend to change that next year with our specially designed & fabricated display cage.

We have included concept pictures with this post, the actual pictures will be made available towards the dates of the show. We are hoping this effort will generate interest in our product and show that we mean business. After the show we are hoping that our bankers, especially, start taking us a bit more seriously and that the market starts to take notice of us and our products. We have no illusion as to the impact our presence at the show will have. In other words, we are not expecting a flood of orders or discounts from suppliers soon after the show, but we are hopeful of getting increased orders from our current customers and a better reception from our bankers to start with.

As with any marketing and promotion, money has to be spent upfront before the rewards start to flow. This is why we have had to defer our attendance of the show to next year to give us time to save up for the stand and other associated expenses, which in all honesty we felt were too expensive. The fabrication of the cage will go ahead as scheduled and once complete we will explore the possibility of taking it to the UNWTO General Assembly in Victoria Falls in the hope of establishing new customers and showcasing our efforts to the country's and indeed the world’s policy makers.

All these are grand ideas by any measure, but we are committed to becoming Zimbabwe's largest rabbit breeding operation and this is the path we have chosen.

Special Display Cage - Concept Design Images

 

Side View

Top



3D Frame Structure



3D Frame Structure



3D Side View
 

3D Side View

 

3D Side View



3D Side View

Looking for a plot to buy

We are looking for a plot to buy in the area between Ruwa and Rusape. The plot has to be between 1 acre and 1 hectare (or 2.5 acres) in size, with easy access to the main Harare - Mutare highway. We are looking to spend no more than US$30,000 to be funded from the sale of our current plot in Juliasdale, Nyanga. Should anyone have knowledge of any new developments within this area, or if you know of anyone who is willing to sell us a portion of their land please let us know. We are open to any idea or arrangement that will secure us the land.

Rabbit Production in Zimbabwe

All the views below are my own and do not represent an official or statistical position.

Over the last couple of months I have been travelling up and down the country and being a ‘rabbit farmer’ would naturally find myself noticing areas & communities where rabbits are kept. To a large extent, rabbits are kept in almost all communities of the country at homestead level with very little commercial production (greater than 100 does). In fact it might be fair, in my view, to say there is no commercial or large scale production of rabbits taking place in Zimbabwe. However there seems to be a large market for rabbit as every single ‘rabbit farmer’ whom I spoke to confirmed that they are able to sell surplus rabbits with little effort.

Below is my analysis of rabbit production in Zimbabwe and a few suggestions for the policy makers and other stakeholders.

Research & Breeding stock

Facilities for breeding rabbits are widespread with most tertiary educational institutions visited having well built structures for rabbits. These seem to have been carefully planned and designed with the main objective being teaching & research. There is no doubt that as a country we have the capacity through the agricultural institutions to produce a large number of quality breeding rabbits should the need arise. The other interesting thing I discovered is the number of secondary & high schools that had similar facilities. Again these are well planned & designed, even though sometimes materials used are not always up to standard. To my mind, there was a period when rabbit production was prioritised and resources made available for research and production expansion. There seems to have been a deliberate strategy at the time to target educational institutions at all levels. There is however no doubt that the skills to breed rabbits still exist and should there be need, the country can easily resume production of breeder rabbits. Another important observation was how government employees, teachers, lecturers, soldiers, police, nurses & prison officers who are provided government housing tended to keep rabbits as a backyard activity. This is telling of the importance of rabbits at household level and the spread of the activity.

Production methods

As mentioned above, rabbit breeding facilities exist at formal government institutions, but these are not always fully utilised, with some of them having been converted to chicken or pig production and some left unused. However, the most popular method of production by far was where the rabbits are kept in cages raised off the ground. The cages hold from one to several rabbits and are largely home-made from a variety of locally sourced materials. Typical numbers of rabbits that can be found in backyards did not exceed twenty. In terms of breeding, there is usually very limited control over mating, though a primary buck could always be identified in the majority of set-ups. The lack of mating control means there is a high rate of cross-breeding and possible in-breeding, but on the whole most of the rabbits seen were observed to be in very good health without any clear signs of in-breeding. Another method observed to be popular was a form of colony system where rabbits were kept on the floor in built up structures, usually a converted storeroom.

Feed

Depending on the area, urban versus  rural, the rabbits are fed a variety of items from vegetables, left over sadza, sweet potatoes, maize leafs, mulberry leafs, banana leafs and a host of other locally available items that would be in season. Being a backyard activity, very little cost is spent on food. Although rabbit pellets are readily available in urban areas, these do not seem to be widely used. A discussion at one of the stock-feed depots revealed that some of the rabbits pellets sold were actually finding their way to feeding other animals, such as pigs, ducks and broiler chickens and not rabbits.

Market

No formal market exists for rabbits and it seems most of the rabbits produced in Zimbabwe are sold to family and friends. A few butchers and supermarkets stock rabbit and likewise even fewer restaurants have rabbit on their menu. On enquiry, supply to these outlets is erratic and they are unwilling to deal with individuals who in the main are unregistered to process meat products. Although there is a vibrant informal market, the process to formalise it will need greater involvement of the authorities and support to build processing plants that are up to the correct standards. Effort also has to be put in developing new markets.

Suggestions

A lot of the key issues needed to make ‘rabbit farming’ a viable and worthwhile pursuit are already in place, like breeder facilities, breeding & production skills, pellet feed producers, alternative feed and a market. The formalisation of the marketing process and the building of rabbit processing facilities will go a long way in encouraging new producers and new customers. The resuscitation of a rabbit breeders association would also go a long way to attract new investments into this area. Although it is difficult to see rabbit production increasing to the levels at which chicken is currently being produced at in the short term, there is a lot of potential and I would encourage the authorities, farmers and other stakeholders to come together and strategise on how to increase rabbit production in Zimbabwe.

Parting shot

Zimbabwe is currently experiencing a shortage of protein and the demand for affordable meat and meat products remains very high. Chicken producers have benefited the most from this shortage, but production costs remain very high. Rabbit is an alternative and its production is not land or capital hungry has with chicken or the larger livestock. There is an opportunity here for individual farmers, farming companies, and other interested organisations to generate good income and for government to create employment at a local/community level and alleviate part of the protein shortage.

For our part, we are open for business and will be waiting for your orders for breeding rabbits and for rabbit meat should you require.

 

 

 

Self doubt the verdict is in...

Having gone through a couple of weeks of self doubt the verdict is in, we will continue at our current production level, even though the returns are small. We have some very loyal customers and we owe it to them to persevere. We are also seeing new markets and opportunities with a few new customers having approached us with orders for Easter & Christmas. If all goes according to plan, we should be able to meet part of our growth targets from sales.

Soon after the Easter deliveries we will be starting our Christmas breeding schedule. We have decided to start earlier than before so that we have enough extras to cater for the ‘last minute customers’. The other reason for starting early is to try and pace the growth so that we increase our capacity gradually through the year.

In the next few days we hope to be able to post our development plan for the year. We are going to become Zimbabwe's largest rabbit breeding operation and we hope our stakeholders will be able to understand our plan and vision. The issue of funding will delay the realisation of the objective, but we are resolute and we will use the resources available to us and make those steps we can towards the goal.

Low productivity

So, after the hype of the festive season, having counted all the costs, we are still not yet making a return on our investment. Yes, we do make enough to keep the project going, but not enough to create growth. The biggest problem is low productivity. We need to get a whole lot more rabbits to market.

My precious - September 2008

Wind Vane Postponement

After discussions with my partners & family, we have decided to postpone commissioning it to early next year after the festive season sales are tallied and we know exactly how much we have to spare. Sometimes I get so excited about an idea I forget that the pockets are not bottomless.

I am still new to blogging and just going through my past posts I realised I have not said much about the actual rabbits. Over the next few posts, I will try and explain what we are trying to do and post a few pictures of our rabbits. We are still taking orders for Christmas on a first come first serve basis as we had a few extras.

Until next time...

Found a supplier for the wind vane

I managed to find a company that does large commercial wind vanes for factory ventilation in Msasa, Harare. They said they would be able to make any size wind vane for me, so I am now just waiting to see how much it might cost.

As I was looking for someone to make the wind vane, I discovered a company that makes all types of fibreglass boats. Now, there is a relatively large pond on our plot and I was thinking maybe we can get 2 boats and start charging a dollar for 30min on the pond. Currently they have some second hand canoes at very reasonable prices, but they are about 3 metres long... I will have to measure the pond and try and see if they are not too long. Regardless, I think the boat idea is a good way to make extra dollars every week, so I will pursue it. I am thinking I might even have to dig & expand the pond in the long run.

Back to the rabbits, the wind vane will have some 3 rabbit figures on it and will have a very glossy finish. It will be mounted on a 9 metre free standing pole erected on the highest point on the plot. I still need to find out about avoiding lighting strikes, but that's the plan for now.

 Hopefully we will be able to get the wind vane done before the Christmas shut-down.

Wind Vane

We are trying to design and install a wind vane with our logo as the outline. Very few companies seem to do such things here is Zimbabwe, but I am sure we will have one before the end of year. Once it's up we will post the photos.