Rabbit farmer’s leap of faith breeds success

Eight years ago, Tshidi Mokoma walked away from her job as a tax consultant to venture into the world of rabbit farming.

That leap of faith has paid off and today she is reaping the rewards. 

Her interest in breeding rabbits for their highly nutritious meat was sparked when her father was diagnosed with cancer while she was still in high school.

“One of his oncologists advised him to follow a protein diet. He said the cheapest form of protein he could find was rabbit meat. Back then we were living in the North West and couldn’t find rabbit meat anywhere,” said Mokoma.

Extensive research

The idea of rabbit farming lingered in her mind while she pursued her career as a tax consultant. She did extensive research into rabbit farming.

“I worked for the government for over a decade. I was farming part-time until I resigned from my job in 2015,” she said.

Mokoma took the plunge and set up her business, Rabbitville, on a plot 10km from central Polokwane in Limpopo.

“Luckily, I found a doctor who was selling his stock because he was going into medicine full-time. I bought the cages, the rabbits – basically, I bought the business,” she recalled.

The hard work paid off with new opportunities arising in 2017. Mokoma entered and won a competition run by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. The prize was a trip to a  food summit in China with then-Minister, Senzeni Zokwana, representing the Southern African Development Community.

A growing business

In 2018, Rabbitville received a R1 million farmer support grant from the Limpopo Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. The funds were used to erect a warehouse and buy feed, cages and other implements needed to grow the business.

“The funds really helped us and opened a whole new avenue for us as a business,” she said.

In 2021, the business received another boost when it won a R1 million cash prize at the Small Enterprise Development Agency’s (Seda) Pitch and Perfect competition.

“They bought equipment for us, including agro-processing units, a storage facility and other farming equipment. We are now able to process boerewors and patties. We are cutting our meat in portions. We now have a variety of products,” she said.

Before receiving the equipment, Rabbitville was only selling meat.

The business has since grown from strength to strength and now supplies rabbit meat to boutique hotels, butcheries that trade in wild meat, delis and restaurants.

Rabbitville currently employs three permanent staff and seasonal workers are roped in when needed. Mokoma has plans to grow the business further.

“I lease a plot of land. The lease is lapsing soon so I am looking to buy my own farm,” she added.

Mokoma said having her own farm would significantly boost Rabbitville’s productivity.

“We can then do the whole value chain [activities] on site,” she said. Mokoma has also set her sights on exporting her produce to markets beyond South Africa.

“Last year October I travelled to Germany [to do market research]. Since then I have been in contact with the GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit), a German development agency. I am looking to export to the European market. It’s promising; I just need to sort out a few regulatory matters,” she said.