RABBIT NETWORK
KENYA

addressing food security, reduction of poverty and unemployment, empowerment of women, micro-finance, Rights of the Child, Millennium Development Goals

Nazareth Sisters operate a primary and day school with 200 children for the rural community at Ndekero. The school is located on a 30 acre farm land. The school charges a fee of about 12,000 Ksh per year. Some children are sponsored but requires that their parents work on the farm 2 days a week. A vegetarian lunch and tea is served to the children.

About 27 acres of the land is under cultivation and produces crops (maize, beans, sweet potatoes, onions, arrow root, etc.) and fruits (mango, papaya, avocado). Harvests are used at the Convent for the Nazereth Sisters, children's home and a secondary school. The farm also has a few cows, goats, chickens and rabbits.

Rabbit House

The rabbit project started in March 2008 and was sponsored by Fondation Pour les Autres via the Catholic Church of Sweden. Project was implemented by Globetree. The objective was to generate income for the education of children and to provide employment to poor parents.

The design of the rabbit house is a cage hutch system with outdoor enclosures. There are 4 identical sections. Each section has 2 upper cages (referred to as the "maternity wards" for breeding female rabbits) and a lower open cage for the young rabbits. The hutch sits on concrete blocks and so there is an "under the hutch" space for the rabbits too. The outdoor enclosure is a "run" for the young ones
 

Rabbit Counts

Date	Current Counts	Comments
18 Jan 2010	32	Total : 68 (+25 slaughtered, +11 died)
14 July'09	71	Total: 80 (9 died over this period) Bucks-38, Does-7, Young Does-15, Kits-11
22 May'09	63	Total: 68 (5 kits died over this period) Bucks – 38, Does – 8, Younger Does – 12, Kits – 5
24 March'09	59	Start of Project

Persons involved in the project

ACTIVITIES

August 2009:  This site is proposed for up-scaling to 100 rabbits per month and will raise rabbits in open vegetated enclosures with fencing. The project will have access to 1 acre of land and access to grass, weeds and agricultural crop residues from the farm. Due to limited funding, co-sponsors and private investors are needed. Please contact jacky.foo at gmail.com.

04 March 2009: Blessing of the Rabbit House

12 Feb 2009: Visitors from Canada

Canadians sponsored 2 children for one year into pre-school classes. Parents of the sponsored children will give 2 days per week of their time to the school to help in the farm and in the rabbit project.