Opportunities and needs in development of smallholder goat production systems in Africa
Journal Title: Scientific Journal of Animal Science - Year 2014, Vol 3, Issue 8
Abstract
A detailed diagnosis of the dynamics of smallholder goat farming systems will guide in any of livelihood intervention programs which takes into account the important socioeconomic issues towards improving the standard of living of the rural poor in Africa. Goats provide smallholder resource poor farmers with a vast range of products and services such as immediate cash income, meat, milk, skin, manure, risk spreading/ management and social functions. This is on the background that goats require smaller investments, have shorter production cycles and greater environmental adaptability, and hence have a unique niche in smallholder agriculture which make them a sustainable enterprise in the context of climate change and variability. This is a review paper that explores the feasibility of goat production as an viable option to improve the quality of life of rural populations in Africa. The discussion highlights the opportunities and challenges in maximizing goat production on the continent focusing on the reducing the current animal product demand supply gap in rural areas. Empirical evidence show that goat population do play a greater role in smallholder farming sector and the species is increasing in numbers than othe livestock. The major concern for using goats is their ecological and physiological adaptive traits which will be more important in the context of climate change variability and other common environmental shocks. The factors which contribute to efficiency in goat production as influenced by water stress, feed inadequacy and disease resistance should be studied further inorder for goats to continualy survive the extremities of climate change. Study conclude that goats constitute an important reservoir of genetic material and sustainable form of animal production that has significant potential for alleviating malnutrition and food insecurity in Africa.
Authors and Affiliations
N. Assan| Zimbabwe Open University, Faculty of Science and Technology, Department of Agriculture Management, Bulawayo Region, Box 3550, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP695
- DOI 10.14196/sjas.v3i8.1642
- Views 411
- Downloads 20
The influence of flock dynamics, reproductive performance and mortality on productivity of traditionally mana ged goats
The current goat production status and contribution to the total meat gross domestic product is still regarded as low in Sub Saharan Africa. Among some of the reasons given for unsatisfactory smallholder goat production...
Morphobiometrical diversity of the indigenous chicken’s population in the Sudano-sahelian zone of Cameroon
Studies were undertaken at rural, peri-urban and urban areas of the Sudano-sahelian agro-ecological zone of Cameroon to describe the variations in physical characters and some important feather and skin mutations observe...
Comparison between the effects of two multi-strain probiotics and antibiotic on growth performance, carcass characterist
This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of two types of probiotic and antibiotic virginiamycin on performance, carcass characteristics, gastrointestinal microbial population and hematological indices of br...
Growth response and nutrient digestibility of West African Dwarf goats fed micro doses of dietary aflatoxin
An experiment was conducted with twenty West African Dwarf (WAD) goats (4-5 months old) averaging 8.40±0.2kg to assess performance and nutrient digestibility of WAD goats exposed to varied levels of dietary aflatoxin o...
Prospects for utilization of the relationship between zoometrical measurements and performance traits for poultry and livestock genetic improvement in developing countries
The preceding review looks at the prospects for utilization of the relationship between zoometrical measurements and performance traits for poultry and livestock genetic improvement in developing countries. Improvement...