ZIMBABWE is set to open a US$1 million rabbit abattoir which will see the country processing rabbit meat for the export market for the first time
This would make Zimbabwe the second African country to offer such services after South Africa.
Zimbabwe Commercial Rabbit Breeders Association (Zicorba) president Regis Nyamakanga told the Daily News yesterday that the facility once
completed would be processing between two and three tonnes of rabbit meat daily.
The facility sits on a 2,5 hectare piece of land.
“We have successfully completed construction of Zimbabwe’s first ever rabbit meat export abattoir in Harare at a total cost of nearly US$1 million.
“We also purchased 2.5 hectares of land and imported requisite equipment,” he said.
Zimbabwe, Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria are among the top rabbit producers in Africa, while China, Korea and Egypt are among the top consumers of rabbit meat in the world.
“In terms of capacity, our abattoir will probably be the biggest rabbit meat processing facility in Africa,” Nyamakanga said.
He added that Zicorba has partnered with leading local supermarket chains and private butcheries and these businesses would be selling rabbit meat in outlets countrywide.
Nyamakanga said while rabbit meat is slowly penetrating the market globally, its local market is largely untapped and needed more effort to bring it to life.
He said his organisation is also looking into artificial insemination as an option to reduce the buck (male rabbits) numbers and production cost.
“With artificial insemination, we will be selecting the best productive male rabbits (bucks) for semen donors,” he said.
Tamary Chikiwa
in BULAWAYO