Challenges Of Rabbit Farming In Kenya With Solutions To Implement

You must know these challenges of rabbit farming in Kenya and real ways you can overcome the challenges before starting rearing rabbits. No business comes without challenges and rabbit farming in Kenya is not an exceptional. However, we have solutions.

Rabbit farming in Kenya is one of the agricultural practices that upcoming farmers have recently engaged. Farmers consider rabbit raring for meat and fur production purposes.

Rabbits are known to give the best white meat with high nutritious levels. The rabbit meat is rated to have fewer fats among other unhealthy substances, making them high quality compared to other proteins.

Although rabbit farming is a business that is characterized by high returns, not so many farmers have invested as large-scale farmers. The majority of farmers are still managing small-scale production due to a wide range of challenges they encounter.

9 Challenges Of Rabbit Farming In Kenya

There are several challenges of rabbit farming in Kenya that most farmers encounter. If the challenges are not well managed, farmers may suffer loss or incur low-quality productivity from rabbit farming.

Some of the challenges have been discussed below.

1. Improper Usage Of Rabbit Pellets

Farmers are recommended to feed their rabbits on rabbit pellets. Rabbit pellets contains supplements to meet the rabbit daily dietary needs such as calcium, proteins, vitamins, and other energy needs.

On the contrary, frequent feeds on the pellets may cause the rabbits to suffer from gastrointestinal tract infections, which would add to the treatment expenses of the farmers.

Too many pellets may cause the rabbits to suffer from obesity and teeth problems.

Thus, be sure to follow the recommended guidelines for better feeding of your rabbits. Furthermore, the pellets are not free and you have to incur cost to purchase them.

2. Low Meat Production

Rabbit farming practice is an emerging system of investment in the past few decades. As a result, there has been an immediate need for white meat, preferably rabbit meat.

The market supply has been not met the demand of the meet to the consumers demand due to very few farmers already in the rabbit farming business in the urban area.

3. Lack Of Governmental Support

The government of Kenya has majored in its support in the agricultural production of crops and larger animals. Since rabbit farming is a small animal meat production project, less facilitation from the government has been considered.

For instance, there has been less financial support in terms of grants to support large-scale farmers in rabbit farming. The rabbit farming business has received less attention compared to other animal productions on matters arising.

Consequently, small-scale farmers have found it hard to expand to an extensive scale production system.

4. Poor Marketing

Farmers investing in rabbit farming suffer in marketing their end products since rabbits gain farmers in only meat, waste, and fur. It is, therefore, hard for farmers to increase into the business with only local consumers as their daily customers.

Rabbit farming has very few slaughterhouses across the country compared to other commercial investment productions. Most of the houses are sparsely located in Kenya’s township areas, making it costly for rural farmers to access.

5. Rabbits For Pet

A good number of people have considered raising rabbits as pets in their homes. The beautiful varieties of bunnies have reduced market supplies as the rabbits are only kept for beauty purposes.

Subsequently, the rabbits’ primary value and its benefits have been depreciated by some communities in the country. Farmers from such areas may find it difficult to expand to the large-scale system due to reduced demand based on cultural norms.

6. Less Affordable Rabbit Meat

Although rabbit meat is essential and best preferred among other white meats, not everyone can afford it. In the Kenyan urban hotels, a single meal of rabbit meat is served at approximately Ksh.1000 per plate.

Compared to other prices of white meat, customers may opt to purchase a cheaper dish. Such circumstances may slow down the market for rabbit meat.

7. Unfavorable Climatic Conditions

Rabbits are very delicate animals to rare; they are affected by extreme weather conditions such as low and high temperatures. Even though the indigenous rabbits thrive well with perfect adaptation to the Kenyan climate, they are limited to low productivity.

Improved rabbits may have better productivity but are more sensitive to climatic changes. The farmers are forced to provide good shelters, resulting in increased prices on the final product due to high production costs.

8. Rabbit Cannibalism

Rabbits need to be adequately fed during the gestation period. The feeding has to be increased even after birth since a lot of energy needs to be regained. The Does can give utmost care to newborn kittens.

They need to be well fed, especially when the kittens are being weaned. Otherwise, underfeeding can cause the does to feed on their newborns.

Farmers should give more attention to kittens and consider separating them all together to save them from their mothers.

9. Low Demand On Rabbit Waste

Rabbit urine is an excellent product to be used by farmers as a fertilizer and insecticide. Unfortunately, farmers in the rural areas experience less or no demand at all.

A sac weighing 20 kg waste goes for Ksh. 50- Ksh. 200, therefore small-scale farmers may need several days to achieve the 20 kg requirement.

The rabbit urine can also be used as an insecticide, in that 1liter of rabbit urine can be diluted by 2 liters of water and used as an insect control on crops.

Not so many farmers are aware that other farmers deliberately choose to go for artificial fertilizers and ignore the urine waste.

Besides, rural farmers have locally-made rabbit cages making it difficult for them to collect substantial rabbit urine daily. Rabbit droplets are also used to feed fish like Tilapia, but rabbit farmers experience low or no demand of the droplets, making it less beneficial.

Solutions To Overcoming Challenges Of Rabbit Farming

Buy pellets from a trusted supplier and follow the guidelines to the latter.
Understand your market demand and work on increasing your meat production to meet your demand.
Market your products locally to attract local buyers
Involve already established companies in Kenya that buy rabbit such as Benida Foods, and Rabbit Republic.
Visit hotels, restaurants or research centers who are likely to be interested in your product
Involve your local supermarkets and let them sell your product

For instance, 5 star hotels in Kenya are frequently looking for consistent rabbit supplier. They buy rabbit meat from Ksh. 500 to Ksh. 700.

Conclusion

Establishing training for rabbit farmers on rabbit keeping can help curb the challenges of rabbit farming in Kenya. Adequate information can help farmers avoid common and obvious mistakes that may lead to underperformance, losses, or failure of the farming business.

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