Rabbits to the Rescue
Location
A design for income generation activity and networking by children to help other children, and where children can take the lead in reducing poverty in their community & to ensure a future for themselves.
About You
Location
Project Street Address
Project City
Project Province/State
Project Postal/Zip Code
Project Country
Kenya
Your idea
Country your work focuses on:
Kenya
Website URL
YouTube Upload
What stage is your project in?
Operating for 1-5 years
What is the average monthly household income in your target community, in US Dollars?
<$50
Name Your Project
Rabbits to the Rescue
Describe Your Idea
A design for income generation activity and networking by children to help other children, and where children can take the lead in reducing poverty in their community & to ensure a future for themselves.
Innovation
Describe your idea in fewer than 50 words.
A design for income generation activity and networking by children to help other children, and where children can take the lead in reducing poverty in their community & to ensure a future for themselves.
What makes your idea unique?
Sponsored facilities enable children to produce rabbit meat and sell it to their schools/NGO homes. Income goes into a micro-loan fund for their future.
What is your area of work? (Please check as many as apply.)
Children & Youth , At risk youth , Child care , Education , Education reform , Youth leadership , Development & Prosperity , Adult education , Business , Community development , Economic development , Employment , Energy , Fair trade , Food security , Fundraising , Hunger , Income generation , Information technology , Marketing , Microfinance , Networking , Poverty alleviation , Rural development , Sustainable development , Technology , Environment & Sustainability , Biodiversity , Climate change , Conservation , Energy conservation , Environmental justice , Green business , Green consumerism , Pollution , Renewable energy , Rural , Sustainable agriculture , Waste and recycling , Water , Wildlife conservation , Food , Sanitation , Human Rights & Peace , Abuse and violence , Child exploitation , Crime prevention , Food security , Gender equity , Hunger , Vulnerable populations , Youth leadership.
What impact have you had?
At 7 rabbit projects sites, children have become strongly motivated & committed to make it their success. They have taught other children to do it and will now start an out-reach program to improve the quality of life in rural and farming communities by turning wastes into food and income.
Describe the primary problem(s) that your project is addressing.
to generate income through a sustainable activity
to provide skills training
to enable children to help poor children and their families
Describe the steps that your organization is taking to make your project successful.
(i) funding and supporting the idea and concept
(ii) empower children to manage and to lead
(iii) support from local coordinators
(iv) organize exchange visits
Impact
What will it take for your project to be successful over the next three years? Success in Year 1:
2008-09: 7 sites constructed.
Next Year-1:
(i) to provide partial funding to new sites;
(ii) to improve existing sites
(ii) to enable children to become teachers & to share/implement their successes at home and with others in their home communities.
Success in Year 2:
to strengthen networking with frequent visits by local coordinators
to ensure a reliable network supply to the meat demand.
to improve support system for quick problem solving and animal health questions.
Success in Year 3:
by the 4th year, some sites and communities should have become success stories.
(if none....WHY !!)
Do you have a business plan or strategic plan? (yes/no)
yes
What are the three most important actions needed to grow your initiative or organization? STEP 1:
Rabbit houses:
to support existing ones (problem-solving)
to build larger network of rabbit houses (for network supply and marketing)
What are the three most important actions needed to grow your initiative or organization? STEP 2:
Demand and Supply:
the existing demand is the kitchen of their organizations
cooperation with a network market buyer
What are the three most important actions needed to grow your initiative or organization? STEP 3:
have a award-system for the children
proper micro-loan management
Describe the expected results of these actions.
increased income
better food security for rural and poor communities
children feel useful and as persons with knowledge
children gain skills (vocational training)
What was the defining moment that led you to this innovation?
when children wanted to do it and
when adults react positively to the concept and want to support the children
when funding was available
Tell us about the social innovator behind this idea.
Jacky Foo - an agro-industrial microbiologist/biotechnologist by profession
Serve as a volunteer/consultant to help vulnerable children through the NGO "Globetree".
Fellow of the World Academy of Arts & Science
Board Member, International Council for Ecopolis (Ecocity) Development
Formerly Chairperson/General Secretary of Intl Org. for Biotechnology and Bioengineering
http://www.globetree.org/jackyfoo
http://www.globetree.org/africa/rabbit-net
http://www.globetree.org/africa/maikona
http://www.worldacademy.org
http://intecopolis.org/Organization/steering-board.html
http://www.iobborg.net
How did you first hear about Changemakers?
probably from Internet .... this is my 3rd entry in competitions.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Sustainability
What would prevent your project from being a success?
if :
there a lack of funds for expansion
local coordinators are unable to visit project sites frequently
site partners dont provide the adult support that children need
micro-loan fund is mismanaged
Financing source
If yes, provide organization name.
Globetree (www.globetree.org).
How long has this organization been operating? (i.e. less than a year; 1-5 years; more than 5 years)
more than 5 years
Does your organization have a Board of Directors or an Advisory Board?
yes
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with NGOs? (yes/no)
yes.
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with businesses? (yes/no)
no
The Story
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with government? (yes/no)
yes
Please tell us more about how these partnerships are critical to the success of your innovation.
partners are the hosts to the rabbit houses and are often co-sponsors too
How many people will your project serve annually?
1001-10,000
What is the total number of employees and total number of volunteers at your organization?
employees: 4
volunteers: many ....250 ?
What is your organization's business classification?
Non-profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
Have you received funding from any of the following groups? (Please check as many as apply.)
None of the above.
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Comments
I have just submitted my entry "Rabbits to the Rescue" .... and I look forward answering any questions from you as well as to interact and exchange information with others who may also be working with rabbits in Kenya and other developing countries.
Rabbit breeding is not new in Kenya and to many other countries of Africa. The scale of operation is however and very often at a household level. So a family (usually the boys) would keep a male and 1 or 2 females together and a pregnant female is moved into a separate cage when she looks "really pregnant". Sometimes the female would deliver and the other rabbits are moved out of the cage. Such an operation do provide occasional meat to the family and is a special meal for the family.
My project takes rabbit production to a larger scale where the target of a rabbit house is at least 10 kg of meat per month (http://www.globetree.org/africa/rabbit-net). This means that there are at least 2 deliveries per month and there is sufficient cages for all bunnies until they grow to weigh at least 2 kg each (about 7 months old).
My target group is children at schools and at children's homes. Children manage the rabbit house and sell the rabbits to the kitchens of their school/home. Income is then deposited into a fund (micro-loan) which they have access to when they finish school. http://www.globetree.org/africa/rabbit-net/concept.htm
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regards
Jacky Foo
Program Officer (Environment and Sustainable Development)
www.globetree.org
Your comment is welcomed:
if a family wishes to produce 10 kg of rabbit meat per month, they need at least 2 litters of kits (baby rabbits) every month. Then the family needs additional cages for them to grow to weigh at least 2 kg each. Meantime you are still getting 2 litters every month. So by the time your first litter is 5 months old, you are faced with another 8 litters of rabbits. This means that the family needs to keep on building more cages.
Q: how do you solve this problem for the families ?
One suggestion is to establish "collection centers". This centers will buy the bunnies from families when they are 4-6 months old or before their mother does delivers again. This means that a family can just have 4 cages (for 1 male and 3 females) and dont need to keep them until the rabbits are big.
In a way the family operation is like a "hatchery" (like hatchery for chicks) to produce the small ones and then the collection centers are just focus at fattening the rabbits for 3-4 months.
Looking forward to your comments !
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regards
Jacky Foo
http://www.globetree.org/africa/rabbit-net
The "Rabbits to the Rescue" project has been in operation for 1 year and serves as Phase 1 of an innovation that provides a solution to rural communities on sustainable income generation.
In Phase 1, seven institutional sites were established. While each have a role in production of meat to be sold to their own institutions, one other role is to serve as a model to students and the community.
Phase 2 of "Rabbits to the Rescue" has the community as the target and involves family households and a business operation.
There has been many small livestock programs to help families generate money that children can use for their education. E.g. Keep a pig or a goat that can be sold once a year matches the timing when school fee is needed. However, the skill of keeping a pig or a goat often does not reach a commercial operation where it becomes a regular income generation operation. With rabbits, rabbits are easy to kept at a household level.
There are 2 components in Phase 2:
(i) family households to produce the young bunnies
(ii) collection centers to raise bunnies to market size.
With 3 females, each family household can produce about 10 bunnies per month. In the Meru project area, a fair price for a young bunny is about 1 US$. This means that a family can earn 10 US$ a month.
The collection center needs to keep the rabbits for another 3-4- months and can sell each rabbit (1½ kg meat) for about 4 US$. For a collection center to be sustainable, it needs to sell at least 150 rabbits per month. At least 2 persons can be employed.
We dont have the funding yet but the recognition/award from Changemakers can be the step towards this goal.
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regards
Jacky Foo
http://www.globetree.org/africa/rabbit-net
>There are 2 components in Phase 2:
>(i) family households to produce the young bunnies
>(ii) collection centers to raise bunnies to market size.
In Meru, many families already keep 2 or 3 adult rabbits and will have at least a litter once every 2 months. If there is limited space for bunnies after 2 months, they are sold or eaten. This is a "hobby" operation for the kids. However this a sub-optimal operation could be up graded into an income generation activity with 3 females and the opportunity to increase productivity by 4 times (i.e. 2 litters every month).
Alternatively, a 4 cage structure can be provided to a participating family with 4 adult rabbits. The cages becomes the property of the family after the delivery to a "collection centre" of an agreed number of bunnies which pays for the cage structure.
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regards
Jacky Foo
http://www.globetree.org/africa/rabbit-net
The rabbit house at Our Lady of Annunciation Primary School, Ndekero (Meru District, Kenya) is one of the 7 rabbit houses built. see
http://www.changemakers.net/files/IMG_0613-s700.jpg
http://www.changemakers.net/files/IMG_3150-ws.jpg
Nazereth Sisters run the primary and day school with 200 children in a very rural setting. The school is located on a 30 acre farm land which the Nazareth Sisters use to cultivate crops (maize, beans, sweet potatoes, onions, arrow root, etc) and fruits (mango, papaya, avocado) for the Convent and for a secondary school where there is a meat demand of about 10 kg per week.
The school charges a low fee of about 12,000 Ksh per year (~140 Euros). In such a rural community, 1000 Ksh per month is a lot of "cash" to the community of farmers. The school is not self-sustaining yet for its operation and also rely on external funds to provide the children a decent and balanced lunch.
There are always some parents are are unable to continue to pay school fees especially then there are others in the family. So the Nazareth Sisters accept labor as a form of payment. Such parents work in the farm.
I invited some Canadian friends to visit the school in Feb. They were so very impressed by the efforts that they sponsored two of the children. In return, a parent of a sponsored child would work on the farm for 2 days a week and will also help to collect feed (grass) for the rabbits. Farm labour is about 100 Ksh per day (about 1.50 US$).
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regards
Jacky Foo
http://www.globetree.org/africa/ndekero/index.htm
Rabbit houses are designed specifically for each specific site.
In Ndekero (http://www.changemakers.net/files/IMG_0613-s700.jpg, built in Feb 2009 and launched on 04 March 09), the target group is children at the pre-school unit and the primary school. So the working height for the cages (to feed and clean) at this rabbit house is low (compare it with those at Muthambi Girls High School (http://www.globetree.org/africa/muthambi/index.htm).
The bigger Ndekero kids are still just below my shoulders in their heights.
(http://www.changemakers.net/files/IMG_0642-s600.jpg)
The rabbit house is divided into 4 sections (6 feet wide each).
(http://www.changemakers.net/files/IMG_0613-s700.jpg)
Each section allows 2 smaller kids to enter and take care of those rabbits at the ground level. http://www.changemakers.net/files/IMG_0614-s600.jpg
The taller kids take care of the 2 cages in each section that are about 1 meter above the ground.
http://www.changemakers.net/files/IMG_0617-s600.jpg. These cages keep adult rabbits for producing kits. When the kits are 6-8 weeks old, they are then moved down.
We designed the house this way so that each section kids can form their "team" of older and younger ones.
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regards
Jacky Foo
Program Officer (Environment and Sustainable Development)
http://www.globetree.org/africa/rabbit-net
Rabbit House at Children's Garden Center, Kwangware, Nairobi
http://www.changemakers.net/files/DSC07215-s700.JPG
This is the first rabbit house that was built (April 2008).
At the CGC Home where there are 140 vulnerable children, meat is served once a week. 10 kg of beef is purchased at about 240 Ksh per kg with bones (<3.00 US$). This means each child get about 70 gms. It is not much but it is something that the children look forward to.
So the aim of the rabbit house is that children would produce rabbit meat (10 kg per month or achieve 3 litter deliveries of kits each month) and then sell it once a month to the CGC Home. The income generated would go to a micro-loan fund and the children can borrow this money after they finish Class 8. Some of them will not be able to go to secondary school.
As this is the first rabbit house in the project, it has been supplying rabbits (about 15 bunnies @150-200 Ksh each or 2-3US$) to the 2 other project sites (Limuru and Kahawa West). So the children have not sold a 10-kg batch of meat to their Home yet. Unfortunately there were two major incidents that swipped off all the young bunnies. The first was a disease from a new batch of rabbits that we bought. We lost 3 months of work. Then the second time was because of poor management at the Home which affected the routines at the rabbit house. I visited this site in 07 March and 3 females have delivered kits last month.
http://www.changemakers.net/files/IMG_0812-s700.jpg
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regards
Jacky Foo, Program Officer (Environment and Sustainable Development)
http://www.globetree.org/africa/cgg/cgk/rabbit.htm
The system for rabbit meat production uses the principles of the "Integrated Biosystem" approach which I advocated when I was with the United Nations University in the 90s.
That is : how do you design projects that will use an under-utilised resource or waste to produce at least two products.
In the case of rabbit meat production, we are using grass and vegetable residues (as inputs) to produce meat, skin and sweet potatoes.
See picture on planting sweet potatoes (may 2008) in
http://www.changemakers.net/files/IMG_0806-s600.jpg
Children collect wastes from the rabbit house to make compost.
http://www.changemakers.net/files/IMG_1031-s700.jpg
Sweet potatoes is another resource where the leaves, stems and tubers can be used fully. All these can go to the rabbits and it serves as an emergency feed esp. during the rainy days when children find it difficult to go out to collect grass.
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regards
Jacky Foo
Program Officer (Environment and Sustainable Development)
http://www.globetree.org/africa/rabbit-net
Thank you for sharing this innovation. I like the idea that the children are at the centre of this innovation. I can see it being easily integrated into the work done by schools that our partners are working with and I will share your information with them. Your project should be more sustainable where there is an existing interest in gardening.
The rabbit house can also be designed as an upper story of a house for free range chickens so that the chickens can feed on the pieces of food that the rabbits have a habit of dropping. This design will also result in the mixing of the two types of manure producing very good material for composting.
Best wishes with for your good work
Mugove Walter Nyika
ReSCOPE Programme, Malawi
www.rescopeprogramme.org
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Reconnecting with nature: Permaculture design for African abundance
Habitat (Mugove Walter Nyika) wrote:
>Your project should be more sustainable where
>there is an existing interest in gardening.
In the context of feed, rabbit rearing needs sufficient "greens". "Greens" can be cultivated or maybe available as an under-utilised resource (such as grass, weeds, leaves from trees) or as a waste (agricultural residue, kitchen waste).
A reason for having my project sites at schools/children's homes is also because of the kitchen wastes.
The farm manager and 2 parents (http://www.changemakers.net/files/IMG_0506-s700.jpg) (in a program "work for cash" because they cannot pay school fees of their girls at Muthambi Girls High School) bring in at least 2 sacks of weeds daily (the 9 girls do it during the weekends). These are the by-product of weeding the shamba.
The sacks are left outside the rabbit house (sometimes contents are spread out for drying).
http://www.changemakers.net/files/IMG_0734-s600.jpg . Rabbits are fed by these ladies in the morning and the girls do it in the afternoon.
The school kitchen serves 701 students and some 50 staff members generate a regular supply of vegetable residues and peelings everyday (even on Sat and Sun, rain or shine; except when school is closed during the holidays). This is an important source of feed for the rabbits.
>Your project should be more sustainable where
>there is an existing interest in gardening.
True.... it is one of many criteria for selection of a site and one of many factors that can contribute to the success of the project.
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regards
Jacky Foo www.globetree.org
Program Officer (Environment and Sustainable Development)