As Nigeria continues to grapple with the recession that has exacerbated youth enjoyment, JOHN OBA, x-rays the National Agricultural Land Development Authority NALDA model of rabbit farming as a way out.
Currently, youth unemployment in Nigeria is at its peak and this has compounded the security situation, while the recent plunging of the economy into one of the worst recessions in the history of the nation calls for urgent intervention.
Agriculture comes in handy as one of the quickest means of rescuing the nation from the economic mess the Coronavirus pandemic has put the nation in. But to an average Nigerian, this sector is only viewed in terms of cultivation and harvesting. Attention is diverted from several subsectors of agriculture that is cheap, lucrative and money spinning. One of such is the rabbit rearing, a subsector of animal husbandry.
Rabbit business
According to experts, rabbit production can be among the potential enterprises fit for smallholder farmers both in the rural and urban areas. Therefore, revitalization of rabbitry can be one of the major enterprises for food, nutrition and income security among the youth and women. Rabbits are capable of providing many similar benefits such as meat, manure and fur as other animals.
They are prolific, grow very fast, have good feed conversion efficiency, require small space to grow, offer little competition with humans for food, and have ability to convert low quality roughages into meat. Rabbit production is affordable, requires relatively low capital for start up, and rabbits are inexpensive to keep compared to large animals. Rabbit meat is one of the most nutritious meats, with more protein and less colesteria. Despite the benefits, the potential of rabbits has not been realized by many in Nigeria.
NALDA efforts
The National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) as part of efforts to bridge the gap of unemployment among youth and women has announced plans to train Nigerians on rabbit farming. The Executive Secretary and Chief Executive, Prince Paul Ikonne, revealed that over 17,000 rabbits have been given out already. This according to him is the first phase of its programme and 774,000 Youths in the entire agro-business.
Prince Ikonne while speaking in Abuja on Wednesday at a press briefing noted that the programme will commence in the southern part of Nigeria with beneficiaries earning at least one hundred thousand naira.
“We are engaging our youths into rabbit farming, NARLDA has designed a programme to take in 17,000 rabbit farmers especially in the south and we have commenced the engagements in some states”
“We are encouraging our youths to get involved in this programme, at least an average of one hundred thousand a month will be made from rearing a rabbit, you can see that this venture if tapped into will cater for family and homes, so it is something that we have engaged in and we keep expanding it.”
Prince Ikonne added that the programme has been approved by President Muhammadu Buhari and as such there will not be a delay in implementing it.
“The President has given all the approvals and funds required to implement this programme by NARLDA, so we have no reason not to deliver and not to reach out to young Nigerians who are desirous at getting engaged into gainful and meaningful rabbit farming investment.”
Meanwhile, Prince Ikonne noted that 18 states have been identified as pilot states for the programme with Imo, Abia, Cross-River and Oyo taking the lead.
“All our programmes are in phases, in this first phase, Imo, Abia, Cross River and Oyo have received their rabbits and young farmers have engaged into rabbit farming.”
“We have two programmes already going-on in terms of animal husbandry and we have 18 states as pilot states in this animal husbandry which is divided into two, goat rearing and rabbit rearing,” he said.
Prospects
According to experts, there is no waste in the rabbit farming value chain.
Rabbit business is a money spinning machine business, from the urine to the dropping, meat and hides are sources of money.
Those empowered will make at least an average of N100,000 per month from rearing rabbit.
Rabbit manure has four times more nutrients than cow or horse manure and is twice as rich as chicken manure. Cow, horse and chicken manure are considered “hot” and need to be composted (well-rotted) to use as fertilizers.
One of the best things about rabbit manure is it doesn’t need to be composted. Rabbit manure is organic matter and improves poor soil structure, drainage and moisture retention. It improves the life cycle of microorganisms in the soil. Worms love rabbit manure. It is not as smelly as other manures and is easy to handle. One doe and her offspring can produce a ton of manure in one year. That’s a lot of bunny honey. Rabbit manure is packed with nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, minerals and micronutrients. It contains beneficial trace elements such as calcium, magnesium, boron, zinc, manganese, sulfur, copper and cobalt, just to name a few. Nitrogen (N). Rabbit manure is higher in nitrogen than sheep, goat, chicken, cow or horse manure. Plants need nitrogen to produce strong green growth. Phosphorus (P). Rabbit manure is also higher in phosphorus than the other manures. It helps with the transformation of solar energy to chemical energy. Phosphorus also helps plants to withstand stress and contributes to more and bigger blossoms, and is great for root growth. Potassium (K). Potassium helps with fruit quality and reducing disease; plants will not grow without it.
Skin
According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) rabbit fur production is not comparable with the production of other fur species. Mink, which tops the list of species bred essentially for their fur, supplies a world total of about 25 million pelts a year. In France alone annual rabbit skin production tops the 70 million mark. But mink is bred for its fur and rabbits for meat, so rabbit fur is just a byproduct to which breeders give scant attention, yet this can generate huge cash for the breeder.
Intensive meat rabbit production techniques in Europe are usually incompatible with production standards for quality fur pelts. In fact, the raw skin represents only a small percentage of the value of the living animal. So more and more frequently rabbits are slaughtered at an age or time of year when their coats have not fully developed. This is usually at 10-12 weeks when they still have an infant coat or are beginning the sub-adult moult.
Rabbit fur is highly desirable and demands high market prices. Its popularity in garment production stems from the various colors available throughout the breed’s different varieties.
Normal fur and Satin fur are also used in the production of various fur items and trim, but they are not as common, Nigeria stands the chance of gaining reaping millions of dollars from this with proper investment.
The meat
The consumption of rabbit meat in 2017 alone was estimated to be around 1.5 million tones because of its health impact and nutrition.
Rabbit meat’s fat content is significantly lower than in other meats, consequently it also contains less calories and vitamin B12. It is richer in proteins, containing almost double the amount of all amino acids in comparison to chicken or beef. A study has found rabbit meat to have lower cholesterol levels than that of chicken and almost half the cholesterol levels found in beef.
Model of operation
Prince Ikonne explained that the President has given all the approvals and funds required to implement the programme by NARLDA, so the scheme has no reason not to deliver and not to reach out to young Nigerians who are desirous at getting engaged into gainful and meaningful rabbit farming investment.
“Our programme is community-based, if you live in an urban area kindly identify yourself at the NALDA office in your state, we have offices across the country and our website where youth can apply.
“Some companies and individuals have identified their interest for off-taking, NARLDA also plays the role of off-taker because we have farms that we are establishing across the country.
“The Processing is another section that we will also take in youths to be trained on animal husbandry after the training, which is on-going, then the processing commences.
“The beneficiaries are obtained from various states through and stakeholders as a pilot stage; we are doing this today so that Nigerians will know how to get involved in this venture, so that they will be informed.
“We have two programmes already going-on in terms of animal husbandry and we have 18 states as pilot states in this animal husbandry which is divided into two, goat rearing and rabbit rearing,” he said.
