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.
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.
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!
I use manure from goats to grow avocado, my trees are so healthy. During 2016, I sold avocados and got TZS. 210,000 from only 3 trees. In the past, I could only harvest a few avocados which were not enough for sale. I used the income to buy a Television set and installed solar panel. Since I installed solar panel, my children can study a couple of more hours during the night than it was before with traditional kerosene oil lamp ‘kibatari’.
It wouldn’t have been possible to afford taking my child to the hospital if it were not for the goats. I don’t have health insurance so I sold one goat, paid hospital charges…happy now my child is fine. I started selling vegetables after seeing that the goats can provide enough manure for my garden. Through income from vegetables I can easily afford household needs. The goats have rescued me from being a beggar and casual labourer.
I was so happy that day when I received a goat from the project, we are now benefiting a lot
