Prospects And Challenges Of Rabbit Farming In Nigeria: A Critical Analysis
Rabbit farming in Nigeria has grown from subsistence to commercial agribusiness over the years and the prospect continues to rise, as does the challenges. There is no doubt that rabbit rearing in Nigeria is much easier compared to the rearing of other animals like pigs, poultry, cattle, etc. This is because commercial rabbit farming in Nigeria does not require large capital, a large range of equipment or large portion of land to start.
Read: Rabbit feed formulation and production in Nigeria
There are different breeds of rabbit in Nigeria, and almost all of them are reared for commercial purposes. Commercial rabbit farming in Nigeria are for different purposes which include meat production, laboratory uses, fur production, and breeding stock. Therefore, before venturing into rabbit farming in Nigeria, you should decide your area of specialization.
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Meat Production
If your purpose of venturing into rabbit farming in Nigeria is meat production, you must make sure that all the necessary materials are in place. Beginning from the slaughtering process up to the point where you start looking for prospective buyers. Everything must be in place in order for you to succeed.
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Laboratory Use
When considering the different aspects of rabbit rearing in Nigeria, rabbit production for laboratory use is most profitable. The major challenge with this aspect of commercial rabbit farming Nigeria is that you have to be licensed by the appropriate bodies. This is to make sure that you abide by all the stipulated guidelines that guide such business.
Once you scale through the hurdle of getting a license, you can venture into commercial rabbit production in Nigeria for laboratories, hospitals, and tertiary institutions.
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Fur Production
Fur is used in the manufacturing of clothes and other wears. So, venturing into commercial rabbit farming in Nigeria for the purpose of fur production is certainly a lucrative business. All you need to do is identity the different fur producing breeds of rabbits in Nigeria.
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Breeding Stock
If you decide to venture into rabbit production for stock breeding, you must breed highly productive and quality rabbits. You must, at all times have healthy and high performing rabbits in your farm. No farmer buys an unhealthy and low performing breed.
See: How to start rabbit farming in Nigeria
The Prospects Of Rabbit Farming In Nigeria
The economic importance of rabbit production in Nigeria is enormous to mention but a few. Below is the list of the prospects of commercial rabbit rearing in Nigeria.
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Food Availability
Owing to the fact that there is increasing demand for food sufficiency in Nigeria, people are now seeking alternatives to meeting this demand. One of such alternatives has been rabbit production in Nigeria. This opportunity has made commercial rabbit farming in Nigeria very lucrative and profitable.
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Job Creation
Due to the fact that rabbit production requires little startup capital, many people are now venturing into rabbit farming in Nigeria. Serving as a big source of income to the farmers, commercial rabbit farming in Nigeria has really reduced unemployment rate in the country.
Also Read: How to start fish farming in Nigeria
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Presence Of Essential Body Nutrients
There is currently high demand for white meats due the alarming rate with which people suffer from heart diseases in Nigeria. The white meat has very low amount of cholesterol and fats. It is only second to fish in terms of total protein content. It also contains fewer amounts of calories compared to other classes of meat. Nutrients contained in rabbit meat include; vitamins, it contains the highest amount of calcium and phosphorus content, and protein. Another very good thing about rabbit meat is that there is no cultural or religious barrier against rabbit consumption in Nigeria.
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High Rate Of Multiplication And Maturity
This is another very good prospect of rabbit farming in Nigeria. You will be surprised to know that in a single year, a female rabbit can give birth to up to 40 kits or litters. This is to say that with just one male and female rabbits (buck and doe), you can boast of about 40 rabbits within a year.
Rabbits also mature very fast. A litter will attain market size just within 6 months. Their high growth rate can be attributed to their being efficient feed converters. With this high multiplication and maturity rate, it affords you the opportunity to recover your cost of production and break even within a very short period.
Challenges Of Rabbit Farming In Nigeria
As with every business venture in this world, rabbit rearing in Nigeria also have its own challenges and problems.
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Inadequate Information
Many of the farmers that are into rabbit farming in Nigeria face the challenge of the lack of adequate information on the ”technical know How” in rabbit production. Without adequate information in rabbit rearing, the farmers operate their agribusiness virtually blind and without good direction and plan.
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Lack Of Access To A Particular Breeding Stock
Often times, rabbit farmers buy their replacement stock from other rabbit production farmers, thereby bringing about unhealthy inbreeding in rabbit production in Nigeria. With proper sensitization, these rabbit production farmers should be made to understand the benefits of buying breeding stock from recognized and licensed breeding stock centers in Nigeria.
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Lack Of Access To Modern Facilities And Technology
This is one of the major challenges hindering the improvement in rabbit farming in Nigeria for some time now. With these modern facilities and technology, there will be increase in the productivity and maturation rate of rabbits in Nigeria. Without these facilities and technology, there is no way that commercial rabbit farming in Nigeria will improve.
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Disease Outbreak
This is also raging challenge of rabbit production in Nigeria. Diseases lead to the death of your rabbits, thereby greatly reducing your profit margin s well as return on investment.
Conclusion
The economic importance of rabbit production in Nigeria can never be over emphasized. The positive impacts include; job creation, availability of essential nutrients, etc. Therefore, rabbit production farmers need to be encouraged with good government policies and proper sensitization that will lead to great improvement of rabbit farming in Nigeria.
There should also be a provision of modern facilities and technology by relevant authorities such that the interest of Nigerians will be positively stimulated towards rabbit production. With the availability of theses modern facilities, rabbit farming in Nigeria will be more attractive, lucrative, and profitable.
There should be adequate funding of the industry by relevant government institutions to support rabbit farming in Nigeria. For you that is considering to venture into commercial rabbit farming in Nigeria, make sure to carry out a proper research of the market and rabbit industry. This will help you understand what you are really getting into.
