Many people who depend on salaries to meet all their expenses often run broke long before the month ends, forcing them to borrow to survive until payday, a practice that leaves them perpetually in debt.
Those who have learnt the value of side-hustles, however, have a different story. They are not only able to meet their daily expenses comfortably but can also spare some cash for investment.
Rabbit keeping is one of the many profitable ventures people engage in on the side and farmers are being contracted by various organisations to keep the animals. The craze for rabbit meat has reached Kisumu County and many residents are adopting cuniculture (rabbit farming) as an alternative way of boosting their finances.
Dorothy Rajuayi is a teacher at Muhoroni Secondary School. After considering various options of earning extra cash, she settled on rabbit keeping two months ago.
She began with four animals - three does and one buck - before adding 16 others when she realised that taking care of the animals was not as demanding as she initially thought.
“I have built enough structures to accommodate additional rabbits. I intend to increase the stock because it is a viable venture,” she says.
Rajuayi has employed two people to take care of the animals.
Apart from breeding the animals for meat, she says the venture has helped her improve her horticulture farm because she does not use artificial fertilisers anymore. Rabbit urine is a good fertiliser and insecticide.
“I have so far collected 100 litres of urine that I use to grow food crops and I am sure I will get good yields as a result,” she says.
Rajuayi says watching the animals gives one a feeling of relaxation and she enjoys taking care of them after work. She is confident that very soon she will start making good money, better than what she gets from agriculture.
“I am sure of getting at least Sh2,800 for every rabbit that attains 4kg,” she says.
The income-generating activity has also been embraced by cash crop farmers from the Muhoroni sugar belt as an alternative farming method following dwindling sugarcane output.
For Benard Omollo, a sugarcane farmer, rabbit keeping is currently his alternative way of earning an income as he waits for returns from his sugarcane harvest. The crop takes about 18 months to mature.
He began with eight animals but now boasts about ten litters that he hopes will soon grow and re-produce.
“I have invested in rabbit keeping because I know what to expect from it. As long as they are kept in hygienic conditions and fed well, the returns are very good,” he says.
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Both Rajuayi and Omollo are contracted farmers with Does and Buck Ltd, a company based in Nairobi that has rolled out its activities in Nyanza region.
The company’s Commercial Director, Jerry Ogonyo, says the uptake of rabbit keeping as a way of boosting personal finance has been overwhelming, especially in Nyanza region, and currently they have over 100 contracted farmers.
Our focus is to get as many farmers as possible to breed the rabbits because we have markets within the country and in Mauritius. The demand outdoes the supply,” he says.
They currently supply rabbit meat to supermarkets and museums since the meat is also fed to carnivorous animals.
The company contracts their farmers at a fee, insures the rabbits and provides training.
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