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Assessment of Rabbit Production Value Chain in South-West Nigeria

¹Federal University of Agriculture Akure, Dept. of Animal Production and Health Technology, Nigeria
²Federal University of Technology Akure, Dept. of Fisheries and Aquaculture Technology, Nigeria

Abstract

Rabbit farming is an aspect of mini-livestock production that has the ability of increasing the income level, providing alternative livelihood and supplying animal protein for man. This study assess the value chain of rabbit production in South West, Nigeria. Both primary and secondary data were used. Interview schedule and structured questionnaire were administered on one hundred and five (105) respondents to get relevant information on feeding, medication and marketing of rabbits in the study area. Data collected were analysed descriptively using SPSS 16.0 package. The result from this study showed that 93% of the respondents used forages, 56% used concentrates while 63% used kitchen waste. Ten percent (10%) of the respondents used commercial rabbit feeds, 17% formulated rabbit feeds on their own while 31% of the respondents used poultry feed for rabbits. Most of the farmers (53%) sell directly to the final consumers while 15 and 26 percent of the respondents reported activities of wholesalers and retailers respectively. About 72% of the respondents sell live rabbit while only 21% process rabbits into meat before sales. Other by-products sold by 8% respondents include rabbit feaces and urine. The value chain description of rabbit production in the study, exhibit all the levels: primary, secondary and tertiary/points of distribution chains. This study therefore reveals the need to encourage livestock feed producers to invest in rabbit feed production to reduce the use of poultry feed in rabbit production. Likewise more work needs to be done with respect to tropical forage production and preservation for feeding rabbits especially in the dry season.

Keywords: Feed, forage, Nigeria, rabbit, value chain

Contact Address: Esther Okpakpor, Federal University of Agriculture Akure, Dept. of Animal Production and Health Technology, Akure, Nigeria, e-mail: estherugochigmail.com