Matabeleland to be epicentre of rabbit production
MATABELELAND region is set to become the epicentre of rabbit production in the country as the Zimbabwe Commercial Rabbit Breeders Association (ZICORBA) in Bulawayo has set sights on transforming backyard cuniculture into commercial ventures.
Recently, ZICORBA Bulawayo Chapter held its inaugural Annual General Meeting virtually and the agenda was collaborative farming and upgrading to commercial production from backyard projects.
The association’s secretary-general for Bulawayo Chapter Mr Sijabulisiwe Mpofu said the broad agenda of their AGM was to transition most of their members from backyard farming to commercial rabbit production.
“Our discussions were centred on two topics — collaborative farming and upgrading to commercial farming,” he said.
Mr Mpofu said the objective was to make Bulawayo and the greater Matabeleland region the nucleus of rabbit production in Zimbabwe.
“This can only be possible through working collaboratively,” he said.
At their meeting, Mr Mpofu said they agreed to give each member production targets that are reviewed quarterly.
Another key outcome from the meeting was for ZICORBA Bulawayo Chapter to create their own rabbit meat market within Matabeleland.
“We also agreed to up our community outreach efforts targeting especially youths and women. Our aim is to improve livelihoods, create employment and uplift the lives of our people through rabbit farming,” he said.
In line with the aspirations of the Bulawayo chapter, a local company, Midesha (Pvt) Limited recently imported 50 pure rabbit breeds from South Africa to boost its production.
The firm, which is one of the corporate members of ZICORBA believes that beefing up of breeding stock, would see their rabbit venture producing between 350 and 500 rabbits per month within the next six months.
Zimbabwe’s rabbit farming sector has been undergoing massive transformation following the formation of ZICORBA in July last year.
Since its formation, ZICORBA has been rolling out various initiatives aimed at promoting sustainable development of the local cuniculture sector.
The programmes include breeding stock importation, capacity building as well as promoting strategic alliances with different stakeholders in and outside Zimbabwe.-The Chronicle
