Meet Gift Jambaya, a Zimbabwean rabbit farmer and Information Technology professional. Jambaya started rearing rabbits at a young age but only as a hobby. Despite having a lucrative job in Information Technology, he decided to quit and go into commercial rabbit production, according to Xinhua Net.
Some of his breeds include the Chinchilla, California White, New Zealand White, New Zealand Red, among others. Jambaya was motivated by the growing demand for rabbit meat in Zimbabwe to quit his job to go into rabbit farming. According to him, the demand for rabbit meat is due to its delicacy and nutritional value.
“When I started, it was a hobby but discovering that I can actually earn a bit of money to feed my family I decided to make it my profession,” Jambaya told Xinhua.
Rabbit meat is also known to have some medicinal properties; the meat is low in cholesterol and fat as well as has a higher percentage of easily digestible protein. What is more, rabbit meat has less sodium content and a high meat-bone ratio. Fur and manure are also obtained from rabbit farming.
“When I come to rabbits actually meat is the last product that we get from rabbits after getting rabbit manure which is very good organic for growing vegetables and horticulture, which is part of my project is,” he said.
Today, he has customers from all walks of life in the southern African country. Some of his customers include big restaurants and retail shops in Zimbabwe.
Jambaya’s success story in rabbit production has attracted many Zimbabweans into commercial rabbit breeding. He now combines his farm business with teaching and helping other farmers to get into commercial rabbit production.
“I am one of the pioneers that are helping a lot of farmers in getting into this project, and letting people know that breeding rabbits is actually a business, not just a backyard project. You can actually grow it to massive heights,” he said.
Jambaya believes rabbit farming has the potential to generate a lucrative income for people who want to go into it, hence his decision to help others. According to him, the rabbit industry is not saturated like the poultry sector, making it even more attractive.
He also highlighted that raising rabbits has more advantages as their offspring grow fast and reach breeding and marketing age more quickly than other livestock. “Rabbits produce faster, once you get the art of producing rabbits, they produce fast,” he noted.
