Dairy Goat Sector Enhancement Strategies for Sustainable Livestock Farming Communities

Abstract

Livestock production remains a critical sector in the agricultural economy of developing countries. Among the livestock production systems, dairy goat production has increasingly gained popularity as a significant contributor to this important sector. Innovation and adoption of new technologies such as the promotion of dairy goat production, improvement of indigenous goats for better production are poised to make an even bigger contribution. This is in particular to the Kenya Big Four Agenda focused to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, promote gender equality, ensure universal health care for citizens, habitable housing as well as tackling climate change by 2030. Dairy goat farming has several benefits such as enhanced nutrition from the consumption of milk (Peacock, 2008), the creation of jobs through provision of animal health, breeding, and improved household income from the sales (Peacock and Hastings, 2011), provision of manure, and the vital role in cementing social relationships. Chenyambuga and Lekule (2014) assert that social-economic usefulness of dairy goats cannot be underestimated. Therefore, a profound concern on the sustainability of dairy goat farming is critical. In Kenya, the common dairy goat breeds include Saanen, Toggenburg and Alpines, and their crosses with Saanen breed leading in the milk production. In the 1990s and early 2000 goat milk consumption accounted for a small but growing percentage of the Kenyan dairy market. FAO (2011) estimates that over 70 per cent of the milk sold in Kenya originates from dairy cows with only 0.02 per cent from dairy goats. Unlike dairy cow milk where markets are organized, producers of goat milk are left to look for local buyers. In recent years, dairy goat farming in Kenya has doubled following an increased interest in the venture by many farmers in the country. This is because consumers have come to prefer goats' milk to that of other livestock due to its nutritious and easy to digest qualities. According to statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture, the total goat population in the country was 15 million in 2018, of which 400 thousand were dairy goats. This was an increase from 13 million of which about 200 thousand were dairy goats (Oyugi, 2019). Dairy goats contributed 4.2 per cent of the total milk production in the sector in 2016 (KDB, 2016). Unfortunately, policy and the legislative environment do not favour dairy goat production. For instance, CAP 336 defines milk as “milk for a cow”, leaving all the other milk producers out. It is essential that goat milk production is mainstreamed and related projects adhere to sustainability criteria