KwaDukuza rabbit farmer exports 90 percent of his product
Director of Mangiamo Flame Grilled Rabbit, Misumuzi Manzini says rabbit are less demanding to farm then other livestock.
While they are looking for a market in South Africa, the Manzini family, who run a rabbit farm at Cranbrook, outside Shakaskraal are exporting 90% of their product.
Director of Mangiamo Flame Grilled Rabbit, Misumuzi Manzini said they export their product to China, the Middle East and the Mediterranean.
“Rabbit, like all other farming, is hands-on, and a rabbit farmer needs to manage things closely to ensure maximum productivity.
“But besides providing the animal with food and water, your input as a farmer is minimal. Rabbits are infamous for their breeding habits,” said Manzini.
He said they started the farm with about 10 000 rabbits and were planning to open an abattoir.
“The weight in meat that one grown female rabbit can produce re-productively in one year is equal to one full cow.”
Maturation periods are short with about 51 days to reach a marketable weight of 2.2 kilograms and ideal weights of 3.5 kilograms achieved in three month.
He said rabbit farms were also less demanding than other livestock being easier to maintain, and requiring less land and resources.
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The family were also helping to equip locals interested in pursuing rabbit farming by hosting about 80 agricultural students for practical training on the farm.
One of their main challenges was getting people to try rabbit as there is some resistance to the idea of eating an animal that many South Africans only know as a pet or the Easter Bunny.
Still, as a relatively cheap and very healthy protein, Manzini is hoping to change mindsets and eventually enter the local market on a large scale.
The family are regulars at The Litchi Orchard market where their flame-grilled rabbit on flatbread sells like hotcakes.
“Rabbit meat is low in fat and has the highest content of protein and zinc of all meats and is free of hormones and steroids.”
According to Business Insider, he is on the right track as the demand for rabbit meat has more than doubled since 2013, with about 1.2 billion rabbits slaughtered annually.
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