Networking

Today was a day spent at St. Peter's Cleaver Primary school in downtown Nairobi for the purpose of networking with other farmers. The meeting had been called by a company by the name Rabbit and Rabbit products. The aim of the gathering was to establish a governing council for the Nairobi area comprising of seven representatives who were to be chosen by the farmers.

This gave way to a one hour voting process and the seven were chosen. It is the task of the seven to register a council/cooperative through which the farmers and the company Rabbits and rabbits products will interact. The proposed name of the council is Kenya Commercial Rabbit Council. KCRC will then sign an MOU with Rabbits and Rabbits Products (R&RP) to find a market together for our rabbits as well as distribute their products to farmers. It is poised to be a win-win for both parties as one gets a market for their feeds as the other gets a market for their rabbits.

All in all, it was a very productive venture and as a smaller group within the larger Nairobi group, the Kitengela group is to meet on 3rd December 2011 at our group leader's farm in Mavoko. I am currently making plans to move into the farm in Kitengela permanently from next week because that is when the tractor will till the land in preparation for planting. That's about the time I will also purchase rabbits and take them to the farm with me. I look forward to a quiet farming lifestyle in the plains of Kitengela and moreso to a handsome harvest and plenty of cash :)

Slaughtering a rabbit

Here is the video of the slaughter http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2sAlGYAnuw viewer discretion is advised for the faint hearted.


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Training

Today, November the 2nd was the first day of training on rabbit keeping at the National Agricultural Training Center here in Ngong. The capacity building is part of a 3-day course which ends on Friday and by which time I will have gotten enough knowledge to be able to keep rabbits comfortably and cost-efficiently. Our trainer today, Mrs Komen, informed us that there has been a request from China for 200 Kgs of rabbit meat every month but the available farmers in the country aren't able to meet the demand. This is partly due to the fact that most rabbit farmers go it alone and thereby miss out on opportunities like this. Others just do it as a hobby and keep only two or three rabbits.

The training today covered the various types of breeds there are including the California, New Zealand, Flemish giant, Angora, Chinchila and many more. Oh by the way, did you know that a baby rabbit is called a kitten, and when in a group they are called a litter. Any way, enough with the terminology. The training went on well and I'm hoping to create a network of rabbit farmers with whom I can work along with and share experiences as well as meet orders together.

Bottom line is that I am getting ready for this venture the right way and I feel positive about all this. As for the crop husbandry, I will employ the services of my agricultural consultant Mr. Wainaina because I am yet to get any training on that. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's training day. Till then.

Preparation

The farming drive is coming along so beautifully. Yesterday I had a meeting with an agricultural consultant on how to proceed on the farm. Mr Wainaina works with DOOR International which is where we met at their offices and farm in Rongai and I got to see the work he has done for them so far. I have to admit its a pretty impressive operation because the five acre farm is able to make an average of Kshs 200,000 every month by producing various types of crops and fish fingerlings.

As we continued to engage, I decided to have him advice me on my venture as opposed to going to Amiran Kenya straight away. He in fact discouraged me from starting off with the greenhouse because I am still 'green' at this and hence the need to familiarize myself with the operations of a farm. He however said that as we go along, then conditions might get perfect for the introduction of a greenhouse on the farm. We also discussed the option of keeping rabbits, quails and German Shepherds for sale to mostly private security companies and individuals.

It is to this end that today I went to the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock veterinary at Ngong to book rabbits for breeding. A kid is going for Kshs 750 and it is my desire to have at least five. While there, I also booked a three day training session for November on the rearing of rabbits for commercial purposes.

Tomorrow I will be taking Mr Wainaina, the consultant, to the farm to do an initial assessment to work out a plan of action that will include things to do as well as expectations on the financial gain from the activities that I will be engaging in. I believe that working with professionals where money is involved and expected is always the right way to go about it, after all, I am getting into farming as a business not as a hobby. He was a lecturer at JKUAT at one point and hence has a repository of knowledge and practical experience which I want to harness for the farm.

May the farming begin.