THURSDAY 11 APRIL 2024, PORT OF SPAIN, TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO – Young residents of the Heights of Aripo have launched a sustainable business venture in rabbit-rearing. Calling themselves the ‘Bunny Builders’, the children will care for and rear rabbits to sell, and they have plans to put their earnings towards their education costs.

This business plan is just one of the positive outcomes of The One Seed for Change ‘Feed to Fork’ initiative that introduced residents of the Heights of Guanapo and Heights of Aripo to employment opportunities in rabbitry. Part of the Extraordinary Projects Impacting Communities (EPIC) programme, the Digicel Foundation in partnership with Shell Trinidad and Tobago donated TT$100,000 to the NGO One Seed for Change to facilitate the training programmes in both communities.

Over eight weeks ending in March 2024, the participants learnt how to make pellet feed from grasses, how to care for the animals, and how to create a range of value-added products in the community. 

“In Heights of Aripo, the children in the community didn’t want to slaughter the rabbits, so we started a youth club teaching sales and business skills to support agriculture, and that’s how Bunny Builders was born,” shared Lorraine Waldropt Fergusson, President of One Seed for Change. “In Heights of Guanapo, we taught rabbit production, including slaughtering and making value-added products such as rabbit burgers and gyros, in the community.”

Cindyann Currency, Head of Operations at the Digicel Foundation said, “Together with our partner Shell Trinidad and Tobago, this year’s EPIC programme focused on community projects in the areas of Agriculture, the Environment, and Renewable Energy. It is a true joy and a welcome bonus to see young entrepreneurs like the Bunny Builders inspired to explore a future in sustainable farming through this community initiative. We look forward to seeing their business grow!”