Teacher ventures into rabbit production
Lesedi Mkhutshwa | Monday April 4, 2016 18:00
The 25-year-old Taboka Moalosi, who is also part-time model, said that she found out that there was high demand for rabbit meat in Francistown and neighbouring villages hence her decision to open a rabbit enterprise.
Moalosi said her business was located at Gavu Garden and Poultry, a farm located at Matsiloje that is owned by her parents.
“My father and brother gave me start up capital to start my business in order to supplement my income,” she said.
Moalosi said that she ventured into rabbit production in 2010 and started with only two rabbits (a doe and buck) and within three months she had 13 bunnies.
“I have over 200 rabbits right now which are mainly bought by Cuban and Chinese doctors and a few locals,” she added.
Moalosi said that she currently has no rentals to pay, which saves her money to buy her own farm. She added that her mother, who is a farmer, motivated her to venture into rabbit production.
She keeps five different breeds of rabbits, which include Californian, Dutch, New Zealand cross breeds and others. Her rabbit-keeping efforts were recognised at the Northern Women Expo where she scooped position in the poultry production category, which she happily said is a sign that her business is heading in the right direction.
“I am planning to make rabbit biltong, burgers and sausages so that I can increase my production and market share,” she said. Apart from teaching and part-time modeling, Moalosi owns Lothando Wedding Events, an event management company.
Even though the government did not fund any of her businesses, Moalosi commends the government for funding young people so that they could have their own enterprises.
She added: “The youth must strive to start their own businesses. It is a plain reality government will be constrained to provide everything for us. They should also not give up when their businesses are not doing well but persevere because businesses have a lot of challenges.”
Moalosi said the major challenges in her business include inadequate breeding stock, inadequate rabbit stock and lack of technical support from extension officers. The major opportunity for rabbit keepers is that the market is vast due to small rabbit population in Botswana.