Francis Karanja, a Grade Eight learner at Michinda Day and Boarding Comprehensive School in Elburgon, Nakuru County, holds one of the rabbits he rears on July 16, 2026.
Three years ago, when Francis Karanja was in Grade Five, he became interested in rearing rabbits. He asked his mother to buy him some to help improve his performance in the Agriculture class at school.
His mother, Ms Rachel Chebet, appreciated her son’s decision, but promised to buy the animals at a later date, as their living space was not suitable for keeping rabbits or poultry.
In 2025, Ms Chebet bought iron sheets, timber, wire mesh and nails, and built a rabbit coop at a cost of Sh10,000. She also used some of the money to buy four medium-sized rabbits — two males and two females — at Sh500 each. The Grade 8 student at Michinda Mixed Comprehensive School in Elburgon, Nakuru County, says he was relieved when his mother fulfilled her promise.
“Since the rabbits arrived during a school break, I had the chance to find food for them, which made me happy when I saw them eating in some of the nine spacious cubicles,” Karanja recalls, adding that, after three months, one of the does gave birth to seven kits, and the other to five.
Francis Karanja feeds one of his rabbits on July 16, 2026. He sells mature rabbits at between Sh 500 and Sh 700 depending on the size.
During term time, Karanja says that his mother helps him to feed the rabbits and collect urine from the containers designed for this purpose. She also cleans the cubicles weekly to collect rabbit droppings for use in the family kitchen garden.
A rabbit's gestation period lasts between 28 and 35 days, but Ms Chebet and her son ensure that the rabbits only breed every three months to prevent frequent deliveries, especially during the dry season when it is challenging to find enough feed.
“I remember harvesting between 10 and 20 litres of urine from nine rabbits in one week, especially in the dry season, unlike in the cold, rainy season when the amount of urine decreases. The number of litres and droppings increases depending on how much the rabbits consume and how much feed they get,” said Karanja, adding that the urine helps her mother to boost her kitchen garden, where she grows kale, cabbage and other short-term crops for domestic use, and to feed the rabbits the surplus vegetables.
After applying the urine to the kitchen garden, his mother also sells the surplus to local farmers for Sh70 per litre. He adds that the sale of urine enables his mother to buy food and look for green vegetables and other pastures to feed the rabbits while he is at school.
Read: Small animals with five yields, big cash
According to agricultural officers, rabbit urine is rich in nitrogen and beneficial for organic farming. Farmers can mix a 20-litre container of water with three litres of urine when spraying their crops.
Francis Karanja, a Grade Eight learner at Michinda Day and Boarding Comprehensive School in Elburgon, Nakuru County together with his mother, Ms Rachel Chebet harvest urine on July 16, 2026. A litre of urine retails at Sh70 at the local market.
Karanja says he benefits from the project by selling mature rabbits and their young more often, as they increase in number quickly. He sells mature rabbits to his friends and other farmers for between Sh500 and Sh700, depending on their size, while single kittens retail at Sh300.
He uses the money from these sales to buy pellets to complement the feed, as well as geometrical sets, pens, and other learning materials.
"I also use the money to support my parents, as I personally cater for my own basic needs. The money also supports my studies, especially in Competency-Based Education, since we do a lot of practical projects to improve our skills. The project has made agriculture and pre-technical subjects some of my favourites at school,” says Karanja, adding that he saves the extra money he makes from the sales as he does not have a bank account.
He adds that, with his mother's support, he has been able to keep records of his rabbits, especially when they give birth, and do a daily count every evening after school. Karanja believes that this will help him to become more responsible and make it easier to manage his business in the future. Through CBE, Karanja says he has learnt more about feeding the rabbits and harvesting their urine, which he collects and stores properly every day after school.
To balance his schoolwork with his rabbit project, Karanja uses a personal timetable to help him manage his time effectively. He currently has over 100 rabbits, and his target is to have more than 600 by December this year.
“I plan to rear rabbits on a large scale to harvest enough urine and manure to meet customer demand during the planting season. Demand has increased in recent months because urine and manure are more effective at killing pests, especially in potato and vegetable farming, and for other crops,” he said. He added that when he moves up to senior school, he will support his parents by paying his own fees with the money he has made from sales and savings.
His mother says that Karanja has inspired his siblings by taking care of the animals, especially while he is at school.
“Keeping rabbits has made him more disciplined and prevented him from socialising with his peers, as it keeps him busy. The project has also encouraged his classmates, as well as farmers and students from other schools who come to benchmark,” said Ms Chebet.
She added that she rarely buys him things or gives him pocket money because the project provides for him and has been successful since its inception.
Karanja encourages his friends to start rabbit or chicken projects, which will help them in their studies and also provide their parents with some extra cash. He says rabbits can be sold at any time of year, depending on customer demand, and therefore farmers can make good sales.
Follow our WhatsApp channel for breaking news updates and more stories like this.
