James Mureithi is a rabbit farmer from Nakuru County.
The farmer makes between Ksh 70,000 to Ksh 80,000 per month from selling produce such as rabbit urine and droppings.
Rabbit urine is used as a fertilizer and pesticide as it contains high levels of nitrates, phosphorus and potassium.
Here is his story as told by WoK.
Rabbit farming
In an interview with Imagine Business, Mureithi noted that he ventured into rabbit farming in 2016, although not commercially.
He only needed rabbit urine to use it on his farm but after the project grew, he decided to commercialize it.
“I’ve been doing rabbit farming since 2016 bit Inwas not doing it commercially. I was doing rabbit farming because I needed to have some urine for my farm but later the project enlarged and I turned it to be commercial farming,” Mureithi said.
Monthly income
Mureithi noted that he decided to commercialize and concentrate on rabbit farming after realizing its handsome returns.
For instance, other than selling bunnies, the farmer also sells rabbit urine and droppings.
“What has encouraged me to stay in rabbit farming is its benefits because selling the urine and the droppings can cater for the management of your farm
“We sell rabbit urine at Ksh 100 per liter while the dropping we sell at Ksh 100 per kg,” Mureithi explained.
On a good month, Mureithi rakes in between Ksh 70,000 to Ksh 80,000.
“There are months where you have not sold much urine but there are months where you have people placing orders for rabbit urine, droppings or bunnies to rare. We make between Ksh 70,000 to Ksh 80,000 in a good month,” he said.
Market
Mureithi insisted that there is ready market for rabbit farmers.
He explained that as the days go by, people’s interest in rabbit meat is on the rise and so is interest in rabbit farming.
“Rabbit market is increasing as the days go by. There are so many upcoming farmers who are in need of joining the rabbit farming
“At the same time, there are people who are interested in tasting rabbit meat so the market increases day by day. A kg of rabbit meat goes for Ksh 1,000,” he stated.
Challenges
Like any other business, Mureithi’s business too has had a fair share of its own challenges.
The biggest challenge for Mureithi is keeping the rabbits in a clean environment and preventing them from human diseases.
“In every aspect we have challenges but one of the biggest challenge in rabbit farming is when you don’t keep the rabbits in a clean environment. All diseases that affect rabbits are usually caused by humans,” he said.
