Article & Photos by Marietjie Roos
There is a saying “do not feed people, show them how to fend for themselves
and you will feed a nation…” There is dignity in self sustainability…
I
n South Africa alone we have
approximately 53 million people, of which 70% receive social grants. Receiving a grant,
does not necessarily address the
need for balanced food of those
affected by poverty. Their quality of
life is almost non-existent which
leads to social, criminal and political issues that the current government struggles to address.
An idea took shape to develop a
model for rural communities, small/
plot holders to be self-sustainable
and enabling urban dwellers to
have access to alternative protein
sources. Excess produce can then
be sold for extra income. This led to
extensive research and interviews
with various role players.
Plots of land are occupied by rural
communities, urban sections of
“plots” or smallholdings near
towns and cities. Many of these
plots are too small to start big commercial activities, and just too big
just to reside on, therefore the focus was placed on small animals
and high density agricultural activities.
Activities initially identified were:
Meat rabbit farming
High density vegetable and fruit
farming
Honey bee farming
Fish farming (Aquaponics)
Poultry farming
European bush pig, goats or
sheep farming for selfsustainability
Related value adding activities
such as
Food preserving techniques,
high density feed plant production, cross use of animal waste
to compliment other farming
activities, value chain analysis of
each work stream, education in
the various activities and mentorship programmes.
Phase one of the study focused on
meat rabbit farming, purely due to
the consideration of high yield versus low food input. Rabbits are an
excellent source of protein which
can produce 1 kg of rabbit meat for
every 3.5 kg of vegetable matter
consumed with the further benefit
that everything of a rabbit can be
used, even the waste.
Rabbit farming has experienced a
“renaissance” in South Africa since
2011 for various reasons. The current breeds that are popular meat
breeds are:
New Zealand Red rabbits
New Zealand White rabbits
New Zealand Black rabbits
Californian rabbits
Chinchilla Giganta rabbits
In order to roll out meat rabbit production in South Africa successfully,
a couple of factors need to be addressed.
New Zealand Red rabbits
New Zealand White rabbits
New Zealand Black rabbits
Californian rabbits
Chinchilla Giganta rabbits