Keeping dairy goats in rural communities

1
Keeping dairy goats in rural communities
2
Introduction

• Eighteen members of Ga-Mampa community decided to
  involve themselves in keeping dairy goats after
  watching a video on dairy goats keeping.
• Two members of each family were trained on how to
  manage dairy goats and how to build dairy goat
  shed.

3
Arrival of the goats

• First five members were selected based on the
  criteria made by group members.
• They had to start building goat shed using local
  materials. Each of the five members were provided
  with one pregnant dairy goat.

4
What was new to Lafata dairy goat keepers?

• Zero grazing, farmers had to keep the goats in
  their houses and supply them with feed. How?
• Farmers looked for any local grasses, trees,
  Cabbage leaves and crop residues which were liked
  by local goats.

5
What was new to Lafata dairy goat keepers?

• Farmers had their own group fund for buying of
  veterinary inputs and supplementary feeds.
• Farmers had their own animal health technician in
  the group.

6
What was new to the community of Ga-Mampa?

• Dairy goat keepers introduced the management of
  local goats in the whole village.
• Castration, ear tagging, dehorning and
  vaccination was done at a fee by members of dairy
  goat keepers.

7
What was new to the community of Ga-Mampa?

• Selling of dairy goat milk at R6 half a litre.
• At the arrival of dairy goat bucks, local female
  goats were mated with dairy goat bucks at a fee
  and records are kept by the buck keeper.

8
How did individual dairy goat keepers benefit?

• Selling of male kids for meat.
• Selling of the female kid to the group members at
  R600 cash.
• Selling of milk to the community at R6 half a
  litre.

9
How did Lafata dairy goat keepers benefit?

• Services provided to local goat keepers.
• Monthly payment from new members who receives
  goats.

10
How did local goat keepers benefit?

• A revisited approach to goat keeping.
• Building of better goat shed.

11
Exposure visits

• Lafata dairy goat keepers have received visitors
  from different districts who wants to keep dairy
  goats through the heifer international.
• They have also been invited several times by
  farmers from vhembe district who keep local and
  now introduced to dairy goats.
• They have learned that napier grass could be used
  to feed goats. Cuttings of napier grass were
  collected and it is now planted and used by
  farmers to feed both local and dairy goats.