Rabbit sector courts banks
THE Zimbabwe Commercial Rabbit Breeders Association (ZICORBA) is courting local financial institutions to unlock funding support to cuniculture farmers whose sector has the potential to produce 25 tonnes of meat monthly.
The discussions come at a time when the local rabbit sector, which has been dormant over the years, was going under massive transformation.
ZICORBA president Mr Regis Nyamakanga told Business Chronicle that there was optimism that the funding opportunities would be clinched.
“We are exploring the possibility of introducing innovative funding packages for our farmers, most of whom do not have collateral required by banks.
“It is gratifying to note that there is an appetite by the financial sector to fund rabbit production and associated enterprises.
“Discussions in this regard are underway and we are very hopeful of a positive outcome,” he said.
The biggest challenges facing the local rabbit sector are to do with limited or no access to capital, high input costs, lack of processing facilities.
The association, Mr Nyamakanga said, is working to redress the challenges.
Construction of the country’s first export-approved rabbit abbatoir was completed in Harare in July this year to the tune of close to US$1 million and a similar project is also on the cards in Bulawayo.
It is hoped that satellite rabbit slaughter-houses will also be developed across the country as part of measures to capacitate rabbit farmers.
Since its formation in 2020, ZICORBA has also been on an offensive to transform the sector, which over the years involved backyard rabbit producers only.
As part of such initiatives, ZICORBA announced in June this year that it had penned a deal with one of South Africa’s reputable veterinary specialists, Vriesit Andrology for artificial insemination of rabbits.
It is hoped that the arrangement will thrust Zimbabwe into the league of few countries across the world involved in artificial insemination of rabbits while boosting the local commercial rabbit breeding.
“Although the consumption of rabbit meat is still relatively low in Zimbabwe, the potential for growth is huge.
“Preliminary estimates indicate that we can easily push about 25 tonnes of rabbit meat per month.
“We have a number of initiatives that we plan to unveil in the next coming months which will permanently change the face of the rabbit industry in Zimbabwe,” he said.
The local cuniculture sector is projected to generate over US$2,5 million from domestic sales over the next five years in sync with the Government’s Livestock Growth Plan.
The plan is part of the Agriculture and Food Systems Transformation Strategy launched by President Mnangagwa last year aimed at growing the farming economy to US$1,9 billion by 2025.
Mr Nyamakanga said they were also exploring the export market for rabbit meat in Africa, Middle East and Asia.
“We haven’t put a quantum on potential export earnings as we need to study the export market further.
“Our current focus is on increasing our production to enable us to meet the growing local demand,” he said.
The growth is expected to be boosted by improved uptake of rabbit meat due to the health benefits of consuming and the potential of to export to China as well as, Africa and the Middle East. – The Chronicle
