Huge demand overwhelms goat farmers

ZIMBABWE runs the risk of having its indigenous goat breeds going extinct as farmers battle high demand for goat meat coupled with growing kid mortality at a time when production capacity is
subdued.

Estimates have put kid mortality at 23 percent against the industry benchmark of 2-5 percent with
the national goat population set at between three to four million.

The figures, farmers say cannot sustain the growing market demand.
Farmers say in the long run, there will be an urgent need to import indigenous goats to shore up
numbers.

This came out during a one-day goat conference yesterday, which was organised by Bulawayo Global Consortium, a diversified limited company that offers unique and attractive investment opportunities.

The conference which was held under the theme: “Understanding the goat value chain” attracted large numbers.

Renowned Beitbridge Boer goat breeder, Mr Herbert Zhou said goats were now an endangered
species in Zimbabwe.

Boer goat
“If we are not careful goats will be extinct in the country and that’s not an exaggeration,” he said.

“Goat statistics show that we have between 3-4 million goats.

The figures are low and we might end up importing indigenous goats from other African countries,” said Mr Zhou.

He said in Beitbridge, for instance, rampant goat theft, which involves smuggling to South Africa
where demand is said to be high, is another challenge facing breeders.

He added that for now, the country is not ready to export goat meat as it does not have the
numbers.
Mr Zhou said the local market is starved of the product hence the need to scale up production. Goat breeding expert, Mrs Tryphina Dube-Takaza, said there is a need for goat breeders to be equipped with proper entrepreneurial skills for them to run successful businesses.

In her address on understanding the goat value chain, she said goat breeders hardly keep production records hence they face challenges in accessing loans.

“Farmers struggle to access loans from banks.
One of the reasons is that they don’t keep records of their goat production chain.

Financial institutions are not willing to lend when there are no proper business records.
I therefore urge farmers to keep records,” said Mrs Dube-Takaza.

She said goat production should to be given prominence in national livestock policies and urged farmers to frequently vaccinate their animals and construct proper infrastructure for goats.

“There are hardly any dip tanks for goats.
In Gwanda and Beitbridge there are few compared to those for cattle,” she said.
During the meeting, farmers said due to the high demand for goat meat locally, it was an opportunity for them increase production.

Conference organiser and director, Mrs Sifiso Agbetorwoka said farmers urgently need to ramp up
production.

The conference sought among other issues, to explore the goat value chain by bringing all players
in the value chain under one roof.-The Chronicle