admin
Obert Chifamba
A CONSORTIUM of rabbit producers from all corners of the country converged in Harare over the weekend to map out ways of improving production, market penetration and breeding creativities, amid revelations that current volumes of rabbit meat are failing to satiate demand.
The meeting also presented the producers with an opportunity to showcase the various breeds they are keeping and the value addition initiatives they are making to ensure they get optimum value from the rabbits.
“The meat that most people want is a secondary issue to us. What is more valuable are the products that we are getting out of the rabbits, which fetch more money on the markets. The purpose of this meeting is to make sure we get organised and draw a line between producing for the pot with value addition and breeding on the other.
Some farmers are producing a number of products that include manure, urine (used as a foliar fertiliser and pesticide for vegetables), key holders, bible holders, wallets, blankets, jackets from the skin as well as dog and cat food from the offal. This ends up fetching more value than the meat, which leaves the meat to play a complimentary role to the rest of the products’ earnings.
“Producers doing breeding must do so properly to make sure the products they sell to other farmers are pedigreed and can compete effectively on the market,” one of the organisers of the meeting Mr Jack Fortunes Yotam said.
Mr Yotam highlighted that most rabbit producers were producing low quantities that made it impossible for them to strike lucrative deals with big supermarkets that want consistency in volumes and intervals of supply.
“We need more producers to join the industry and increase the rabbit population to almost the same level with chickens so that they will be readily available everywhere. We want every retail outlet to be selling rabbit meat in the next five years,” he said.
Another key member of the organising committee, Mr Gift Jambaya chipped in, saying breeders were letting farmers down, as most of them did not have enough stock to meet demand.
“This is making producers so desperate that they end up just buying their stock from unqualified breeders, which in the end compromises product quality and the subsequent market value. We need to make sure there is order in the industry and have people sticking to their roles.
“If someone is producing weaners, he must perfect that skill while those producing for the table must do so correctly too,” said Mr Jambaya.
The producers also blamed the depressed volumes on high costs of production that are scaring away potential farmers prematurely. A 50kg of pellets costs between US$23 and US$30 while rabbits eat between 100g and 300g of the feed per day depending on their physical conditions. There is also the cost of supplying clean water every time.
Online Reporter