This is an article that I've written and hope to have published in a Peace Corps publication called "Farm to Market" which is distributed throughout Peace Corps Africa. Its on the rabbit raising project I'm working with in my village...
My best friend in village, Thoma, is a hunter, legally or illegally and knows the bush around Bikotiba the way most people know the way around their bathrooms at night. He had me over to his family’s compound one afternoon and after a usual calabash the family elder excitedly invited me into his room because he wanted to show me something. I slipped off my sandals and ducked into the 6ft x 6ft musty, cool mud hut that smelt of wood-smoke and dried grain and immediately spotted a pile of different types of animal skulls and two shotguns that looked like they were held together by some crazy African greegree. Next to the pile of hand-made shotguns shells, that I gathered from our discussion, only worked half the time was a straw mattress, which no doubt was the conception point of all his 7 children. He reached to the side of this mattress and handed me an attached bundle of extremely bristle, thick hairs. It wasn’t until he made hand motions forming tusk that I realized I was holding the souvenir of an elephant he had killed. He looked at me and proudly poked his chest and said “moi meme.” There are many times here, in many different situations, where life doesn’t exactly seem real. Sometimes it’s a giddy feeling when you get pulled into a group of people singing and drumming so loud that it is impossible not to join in the dancing. Other times, you feel like you are in a really weird dream and wonder if Mr. Webster has the words necessary to explain it. You can drive yourself crazy trying to figure out how…I ducked out of the mud hut, squinting at the morning sun, and slipped on my sandals, thanked the elder for the visit and bid Thoma and family farewell as I walked back into my village to take on the day. I thought about the idea of hunting here and how its wiping animals clean off this continent.
Bush meat, most of which is acquired illegally, serves as the only source of protein for many people in my village and throughout much of Africa. Bush rat, Biche or antelope, a funny looking lizard, crocodiles, hares, and monkeys offer chance to feed a hunter’s family and also a supplement to the meager income of a village farmer in Africa. Shrinking the demand for this type of meat is something that is difficult as there are few alternatives and a huge lack of foresight. Also, it is difficult to argue against someone, ahem Thoma, who is trying to feed his family because after all, meat is meat. This problem, which exists throughout Africa, is something that I’ve become drawn to as like I said earlier its difficult to tell someone, a friend, not to hunt bushmeat and start bushfires, because after all he is trying to feed his family. Thus, I decided to devote my energy to developing other options to provide a cheap reliable way to provide a source of meat in my village.
I’m currently working on a rabbit-raising project with a groupement composed of about 25 farmers from my village. It’s a rather large project as we started in April 2009 with 24 rabbits and as of July 27 we now have 74 (males, females, young, and enfants). We have a rabbit-raising facility, which is a cinder block building that was designed by the president of the groupement and divided into three different rooms with cages reserved for males, females ready for mating, females with enfants, and young rabbits who hop around on the floor, curious about life and what it has to offer for them.
I was interested in the goals and objectives of the project so a few months ago I held a PACA (community meeting) session with the groupement composed of men and women to better understand why they chose to raise rabbits. After the session I realized that there was a huge problem with the management of the project in that they were treating it as any other elevage project in village Togo--throwing the males and females together and seeing what happens. After the PACA session we held a follow-up meeting and I devoted myself to developing an easy, systematic, management plan that would ensure the sustainability of the project, as well as, maximize the resources that rabbit raising can offer as a supplement to agriculture. I designed some cages and a mating schedule in order to control the rabbits instead of having the rabbits control us. This management plan is continuing to be developed and is a day-to-day process, as there are factors involved such as illiteracy, language barriers, and surveillance problems. The idea is that with every problem, there is a solution.
Raising rabbits is beneficial for many reasons including the low-space requirements, minor start-up costs, the animal’s high reproductive rate, and lack of competition with humans for the same foods. Rabbit raising under subsistence conditions is usually regarded as a labour-intensive activity, but the advantages greatly outweigh the input costs of rabbit production. The low investment costs involved on embarking on a small-scale rabbit project make raising these furry creatures extremely advantageous.
Rabbits are clean, fast growing and breed rapidly. You know the adage…I don’t think its necessary to repeat it in this article, but trust me its true. They can digest many forms of vegetation and could potentially be raised on vegetation not used by people or other domesticated livestock. In my village we use Tchouck waste as a main source of fodder as it is abundant, cheap, and high in nutritional value. Its important that this is dry and we mix it with salt, ground up soy, corn, and manioc to provide extra nutrients. Their meat tastes better than chicken and does not carry the stigma of rodent, like bush rat.
On small family farms and gardens, rabbits can be strongly integrated into traditional farming practices. This entails the recycling of garden and/or kitchen refuse as rabbit feed and the conversion of rabbit manure into compost for enhancing farm soil. Using chemical fertilizers is like shooting yourself in the foot. Substituting chemical fertilizers with rabbit manure is like wrapping yourself in a warm blanket.
Many times, often stateside, rabbits are viewed as pets rather than food-producing animals; these cute and cuddly creatures are fun to look at and play with, but they can also serve as a delicious, high protein food source. With proper training, I’m hoping to promote the nutritional value and benefits of rabbit meat and as a prolific meat animal species.
The wonderful thing about rabbit production is that it does not have to be done in a large project format. Small-scale rabbit projects can be initiated on a backyard family basis, since the ultimate goal of rabbit raising is to provide more meat and a protein source for a family/community. As of now, we are trying to increase the number of rabbits with the eventual goal of giving each groupement member’s family a certain number of rabbits to take home and do a small-scale rabbit raising project for home consumption and/or selling, while keeping the larger project as strictly a village small-enterprise.
When dealing with animal husbandry in Togo, most livestock is free to roam around and are forced to scavenge for their food, find shelter, and water. This system supports limited production. In the case of rabbit production many farmers are hesitant to begin a project because of the care and labour required to have a successful project. This of course is the purpose of animal husbandry, seeing animals as investments and understanding with foresight that each and every rabbit means either a meal or a source of income. In my village I’ve often found that when a chicken dies or a chevre gets hit by a car, there is disappointment but its more of a “c’est la vie” attitude. Correct care and management are necessary if rabbit raising is to be successful.
Proper farmer training and extension support is probably the most important component to ensure a successful program. That is where Peace Corps volunteers can come in. With proper research and collaboration with other volunteers or Togolese doing the same projects, it is not that hard to become an expert rabbit raiser. These projects demand proper foresight and failure can often be attributed to neglect and inadequate education on proper rabbit care. Training key farmers in your community is an essential aspect to the success of any elevage project.
While you can easily do an “at-home” rabbit-raising project yourself, a large-scale community project should come from the community itself to ensure proper commitment, interest, and care. The participants of such projects should look at the project as their own and understand that they are the direct beneficiaries. This is an important factor for rabbit care training and project development. There are many ways to develop a rabbit committee or groupement much of which depends on your situation in village. After this has been developed it is important that each member of the “rabbit group” is on the same page by including each person in the daily surveillance and project operations and changes. Basically the left hand needs to know what the right hand is doing to ensure proper care and education.
From a business perspective, successful marketing is extremely important and I’m working with a SED volunteer, Matt Hix in Kabou, in developing a business plan for the rabbit-raising project in my village. As with any business, it is important to find potential buyers of rabbits. We are hoping to start with fufu bars and other restaurants in the rural and semi-rural areas surrounding Bassar and hope to eventually expand marketing to larger cities and urban areas. This involves extensive market research and development and depends on the capacity of the project you’re working with. Collaboration with other volunteers and counterparts is extremely important and advantageous and we are hoping to develop viable and well-established markets to increase the economic incentive to raise rabbits in the area. Market research, evaluation, and a feasibility plan are important steps in the development phase of the project.
Promotion of rabbits as an excellent source of meat is also an area where you can use you creativity as a Peace Corps volunteer-- through artwork, song, or even magic…pulling rabbits out of the hat can be a good way to introduce this idea to interested communities and counterparts.
Adam Smith (Bikotiba)
EMS Bassar
745.93.94
aysmith1@gmail.com
