BUJUMBURA, March 10th (ABP) – 50 members of the cooperative “Umuco w’ aborozi”, practicing the trade of raising rabbits in the Carama neighborhood in the expanded Ntahangwa commune, are in need of support from the government, so that their jobs can be accomplished, they told a check by ABP in an interview on Monday, March 3, 2025.
Alexis Ndayizeye, the representative of the cooperative, said that the livestock activities began when the President of the Republic, Evariste Ndayishimiye, called on Burundians to start small livestock such as rabbit farming.
To that end, Ndayizeye indicates that unity is strength. “I started with two rabbits, today I have 103 healthy rabbits and I noted that rabbits reproduce quickly only through the practice of good nutrition accompanied by water, good health, good housing, and finally, daily hygiene.” He said that today, the members of the Umuco cooperative have 550 rabbits and they hope that after a year, the number of these rabbits will be increased. He added that they have the idea of starting their own butchery, so that they can generate income. He also appealed to people who say they do not have a job to join them in this cooperative in order to take the same path.
Ndayizeye said that an official launch of the cooperative is planned in the Ntahangwa commune to welcome new members. According to him, it will also be an opportunity to set up people responsible for training on rabbit farming for beginners, for those who have not understood the trade well and who have abandoned it and those responsible for the care and construction of rabbit hutches.
To conclude, he asks the government to support them materially by providing them with large breeding grounds, to facilitate the expansion of the rabbit farming. The domestic and external sales market, the processing and preservation of meat, without forgetting the sales market for byproducts, are among the major concerns.