THE Zimbabwe Commercial Rabbit Breeders’ Association (Zicorba) is set to build the first ever export abattoir for rabbit meat in Harare at a cost close to US$1 million.
BY MTHANDAZO NYONI
The facility, with a capacity to handle 100 tonnes of rabbit meat per month, is expected to be commissioned within the next three months.
“We have engaged private investors to build the first ever export abattoir for rabbit meat in Harare and I am happy to disclose that work on the construction of the facility has already commenced and the abattoir is expected to be commissioned within the next three months,” Zicorba national president Regis Nyamakanga said.
“The total investment is about US$1 million.
“This includes the purchase of land, construction and importation of equipment.”
Nyamakanga said in order to improve the quality of rabbit meat in Zimbabwe, the association had also successfully negotiated with local investors to procure pure breeds from a globally renowned rabbit breeder based in South Africa.
“I am delighted to inform you that the Zimbabwean government has issued an import permit for 200 pure breeds.
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“These are expected into the country within a fortnight,” he said.
“We are working out the modalities of how these would be distributed among the members of Zicorba as we move to ramp up production to meet the current and future needs of the local and export market.”
Nyamakanga said his vision was to see rabbit farming benefiting 1,8 million households in the country, improve livelihoods and bolster the country’s gross domestic product.
The Zicorba boss also revealed that they were in discussions with local supermarket chains and potential customers in East Africa to broaden the market for rabbit meat.
The association, founded in June this year, held elections over the weekend to choose leaders for its regional chapters in the country’s 10 provinces, namely Harare, Bulawayo, Manicaland, Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland West, Masvingo, Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South and Midlands.
The association, which is the collective voice of rabbit producers in Zimbabwe, elected Nyamakanga, a veteran journalist and businessman, as its first national president to lead the organisation for the next two years.
He is deputised by educationalist and farmer Obert Nyakabau while clinical anaesthetist and farmer Siphosethu Ncube-Moyo is the organisation’s first secretary-general and Bulawayo chapter president.
An accountant, Sijabulisiwe Mpofu, was voted national treasurer while small-scale farmer Rejoice Nyamanindi was elected membership secretary and media practitioner-turned-farmer Shame Chibvongodze, the marketing and publicity secretary.
Rabbit production is one of the fastest growing sub-sectors of the small-livestock sector in Zimbabwe due to the health and economic benefits of the meat, which falls under the organic food and white meat category.
Global rabbit meat production is currently estimated at just over one million tonnes worth over US$6,5 billion, with China accounting for 65% of consumption, followed by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Egypt.
