Players in Zimbabwe’s buoyant rabbit industry are in talks with their Botswana counterparts to assist the latter in setting up their first rabbit abattoir, top industry officials have confirmed.
This comes hot on the heels of the recent opening of Zimbabwe’s first rabbit abattoir, one of the biggest in Africa, in an investment worth over US$1 million.
The Harare-based rabbit meat processing facility, which was commissioned in September 2021, has a capacity to slaughter between 2,5 tonnes and 3,5 tonnes of rabbit per eight-hour shift per day.
It has so far been well-received by rabbit farmers across Zimbabwe.
Botswana’s Northern Rabbit Breeders Association (NORBA) president, Timbu Iris Ntjenje, confirmed that her organisation had approached its Zimbabwean counterpart to help Batswana establish a rabbit abattoir in Francistown, the second biggest city in the country.
“Although rabbit farming is relatively new in Botswana and consumption of rabbit meat is still low in the country, we have seen an uptick in the number of people venturing in cuniculture production in recent months.
“We have also been receiving a number of enquiries about rabbit meat and in readiness for an upswing in demand for rabbit meat in the country, we are planning to set up our own rabbit abattoir in Francistown,” the NORBA boss said.
“Since rabbit meat processing is still an uncharted territory for us, we approached our counterparts in Zimbabwe for them to help us set up our first rabbit abattoir here in Botswana.
“We are also toying with the idea of running the abattoir as a joint venture with our Zimbabwean partners. We are looking at different options and the feasibility of doing so,” Ntjenje said in an interview with Bunny World.
Botswana is a mineral and agriculture-rich landlocked southern African country of just over 2 million people. It shares borders with Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe Commercial Rabbit Breeders’ Association (ZICORBA) president, Regis Nyamakanga, confirmed the developments, saying Cuniculture production was catching-on like wildfire in Africa.
“In addition to our talks with the Batswana, I also recently spoke to the president of Zambian rabbit producers who also sought our advice on how to set up a rabbit abattoir in Zambia.
“They wanted a facility that slaughters about 300 rabbits per day. We shared our experience with them.”