Research on Humanities and Social Sciences www.iiste.org ISSN 2224-5766(Paper) ISSN 2225-0484(Online) Vol.1, No.2, 2011 7 | Page www.iiste.org Rabbit Farming: A Potential Approach towards Rural Poverty Alleviation Md. Ruhul Amin (Corresponding Author) Lecturer, Department of Public Administration, Comilla University. Bangladesh. E-mail: rubel_2008iu@yahoo.com Md. Abu Taleb Assistant Director (Training), Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD), Comilla. Bangladesh. E-mail: taleb_79@yahoo.com Junaed Rahim Assistant Director (Research), Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD), Comilla. Bangladesh. E-mail: junaed_bard@yahoo.com Abstract In the context of our country livestock plays a vital role in the economy of our country. Moreover, the major supply of protein comes from the livestock sector of our country. According to the department of livestock services about 36 percent of the total animal protein comes from the livestock products in our every day life. Countries 25 percent peoples are directly engaged in livestock sector, and 50 percent peoples are partly associated in livestock production. Last year, the contribution of livestock sub-sector to the GDP was 2.95 percent, which was estimated about 17.32 percent GDP to agriculture. Last year, the growth of livestock in GDP was 7.23 percent. In this back drop production of animal species has become a vital factor. Rabbit farming as a source of income has not yet gained popularity among the common people of our country. The rural people of our country can be involved in rabbit farming for changing their socio-economic status. As rabbit farming is easily manageable and sustainable it has a bright future potential in our country as a source of income as well as a source of protein. 1. Introduction: Bangladesh is an over populated country tattered with a number of problems among which poverty stands prominent. Still most of the people of our country are living in the rural areas. Therefore, development efforts have been concentrated in the rural areas with the salient aim of alleviating poverty through involving rural families in income generating activities. This common panacea of rural poverty has been running over decades in our country. Farming of animal species like poultry, goat and cattle is one of the means through which rural families can increase their family income as well as consumption of family diet. To a significant extent we depend on cattle, goat and poultry for supply of meat, which occupies a major portion of our daily consumption of diet. Therefore, livestock species in our country play a significant role in both household rural family income and regular consumption of nutritious diet. But farming of rabbit as a means of alternative nutritious diet and source of rural family income has not been yet made popular in our country. 2. Rabbit farming: A past view Since the dawn of civilization human beings started rearing different animal species with different purposes. With the passage of time, sprout from the innovative brain of human beings, rearing of specific animal species have taken the form of farming. “But rabbit domestication dates back no further than the present millennium”, But the purpose of rabbit domestication in the earlier stages was rather diversified.