25 Kibwe/Kingalu Road, Forest Hill Area, P.O. Box 6053, 67109 Morogoro, Tanzania eamcef@easternarc.or.tz

Doing business unusual with dairy goats keeping!

Goat-Keeping-featutrd-image

Just a few people in Mkalanga Village believed that goats can be a good source of milk…just like dairy cows, and that the income from goat husbandry can change lives of the poor villagers. Dairy goat husbandry seemed unusual and strange undertaking. Through sensitization and training meetings villagers were convinced that dairy goat husbandry is a feasible undertaking that they wished to try. Mr. Seth Chavala, a resident of Mkalanga Village shared his story below:

Our dairy goat husbandry group is called ‘Mshikamano’, members were selected by the Village Assembly. I am a farmer but I can clearly say that I used to get very little from agricultural activities than it is now with goats. I started keeping goats in 2015 through EAMCEF support, I have an assurance of getting 1.5 Litres daily, out of which I sell one little for TZS. 1,000 and the family consumes the rest. In the past, my family and most people in this village were not able to afford milk as it was obtained somewhere far from here and a bit costly. The income I get from goats is used to cover for household needs, school fees and stationaries etc. Apart from milk, it was not easier to get farm manure than it is now. We were used to industrial fertilizers which destroyed our land, but now I get manure from goat and can grow vegetables. I no longer buy industrial fertilizers”

Story Details

  • Location:
    Mkalanga Village, Kilolo District
  • Surrounding Forests:
     Uzungwa Scrap Nature Reserve and Kilombero Nature Reserve

KEY DATA

Across project sites – Mkinga District, Morogoro Municipality, and Kilolo District.

  • 314 (154F: 160M) villagers trained on dairy goat husbandry
  • 377 (212F: 165M) villagers supplied with dairy goats
  • 108 households received goat offsprings as multiplier effects of the projects
  • TZS. 7,944,500 Revenue earned from selling of goat and milk

“I sold avocados and got TZS. 210,000 from only 3 trees…I used the income to buy a Television set and installed solar panel…
IZACK NYAMOGA, Mkalanga Village Kilolo District

Receiving a goat marked the beginning of my success. The goat gave birth to twins, and I sold the male for TZS 70,000 to start a beekeeping project. Using the income, I crafted ten beehives and began honey production. In my first harvest, I collected three buckets of honey, selling them for TZS 600,000. This venture has greatly improved my livelihood and enabled me to expand both beekeeping and livestock rearing.

Erasto Ibrahim Mlengela

Through the training I received from district experts and the support of EAMCEF, my life has greatly improved. I was given one goat, which later gave birth to 16 kids. Selling some of them in two phases earned me a total of TZS 720,000. From the first sale, I purchased roofing sheets to build a proper goat shelter, built a modern toilet for my family, and paid my child’s secondary school fees. The second sale allowed me to invest in building materials for my new house and continue supporting my child’s education.

Additionally, the manure from thegoats has significantly improved the fertility of my farm, where I grow bananas and avocados. This has reduced my family’s dependency on the Uzungwa Scarp Nature Forest Reserve for vegetables, while goat meat has become a primary source of protein. My husband no longer goes to the forest to hunt, as we now rely on our livestock for nutrition.

Tegemea Patric Mtima

I sold one goat for TZS. 70,000 and used the money to pay casual labourers to work on my farm, I planted beans and sold the harvest for TZS. 450,000. I used my income from beans to build a bigger house for my family. My old house was too small for family members to fit in. When my goat gave birth (now I have 7 goats) I sold one goat and employed some people to help up plant trees in my one acre farm. I am also getting 3 litres per day, I normally sell two litres and consume the rest. …since then my life has changed a lot, I would rank myself to have moved from level 1 to level 10 – all because of dairy goat husbandry!

NELIA KIKOTI

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