Zambia Agribusiness Society - ZAS

Goat Farming as a Business – ZAS

Goat farming in Zambia is set to grow in importance with huge demand from Saudi Arabia, which desires to import one million Zambian goats annually. But at the moment, Zambia only has about four million goats - and that's not enough to meet the new demand.

Goats don’t require a high initial investment in comparison to other livestock in Zambia. This is great for those contemplating to go into Goat farming as a business or those Goat farmers that wish to expand their herds; to take advantage of the business opportunity that Saudi Arabia presents.

Goats are hardy and easier animals to look after, which can survive under harsh environments. Goats are reared under extensive farming conditions, mainly for meat and to a lesser extent for milk. To some extent productivity of these goats is low due to various factors such as high kid mortality and lack of good animal husbandry practices. Goats also provide skins of commercial importance and manure for gardens (and crop fields). In other parts of the world goats are kept for their wool (mohair).

Value Chain Analysis of Goats in Zambia Challenges and Opportunities of Linking Smallholders to Markets: Thelma Namonje-Kapembwa, Harrison Chiwawa, and Nicholas Sitko

Zambia’s livestock sector plays a pivotal role in the socio-economic development of both the rural and urban population. Smallholder farmers, for the most part, dominate the sector, and at the household level, its role goes beyond the provision of food and nutrition in people’s diets, to act as a risk buffer by providing an alternative source of income in case of crop failure. Though the small animals perform a wide range of economic and social functions, low productivity among the smallholder livestock farmers is still of concern in Zambia’s livestock sector. Goats are the second most popular owned livestock by most smallholder farmers in Zambia. Their ability to utilize a broad range of feed resources and adapt to marginal conditions presents an opportunity for income generation among the poor rural households. Further, with the prevailing farm structures and increasing land constraints in Zambia, opportunities for income generation from field crops is limited. Small livestock rearing is, therefore, suited for the rural farm households to invest in and take advantage of the rapid increase in income and population growth. However, despite these opportunities, the small livestock sector is still underdeveloped and lacks a clear government policy to guide it. Further, the small livestock sector is characterized by the limited supply of both goat meat in the formal markets such as well-established supermarkets and butcheries.

Goats Farming Production Guide – Thomson Zulu

Vaccinations are an integral part of a flock health management program. They provide cheap insurance against diseases that commonly affect sheep and goats.

Probably, the only universally recommended vaccine for sheep and goats is CD-T. CD-T toxoid provides three-way protection against enterotoxemia (overeating disease) caused by Clostridium perfringins types C and D and tetanus (lockjaw) caused by Clostridium tetani. Seven and 8-way combination vaccines for additional clostridial diseases such as blackleg and malignant edema are available, but generally not necessary for small ruminants.

Introducing Meat Goats – Linda Coffey

For thousands of years, man has raised goats for a multitude of uses. Goats, as a species, are recognized as one of the first farm animals (before cattle and hogs) to be domesticated and used for human consumption. Versatile and hardy, goats thrive in many different environments and provide milk, meat, fiber, and skins for their keepers. In some parts of the world, goats are still kept by nomads to convert sparse vegetation into milk (which can then be made into cheese or yogurt) and meat. Goat skins make a fine leather (think of kid gloves), and the luxury fibers produced by cashmere and Angora goats are made into sumptuous clothes. In fact, goats are the source of many prestigious and expensive products, including goat cheese, cashmere, mohair, and kid leather. And goat meat (chevon), while enjoyed by millions of people around the world, is more expensive than many other meats in the U.S. Nutritional data on chevon shows that 100 grams (a little more than 3.5 ounces) contains only 143 kilocalories (Calories) and 40% less saturated fat than skinless chicken.

Overview of the Fisheries Sector in Zambia – ZAS

This paper reviews the Economic Management of Fisheries Sector in Zambia. Zambia is a lowermiddle-income landlocked country located in Southern Africa. It has a total land size of 752,614 Km2 of which 60% of is considered suitable for Agriculture Production but only about 15% of arable land is currently being utilized. Zambia comprises of about 15 million hectares of water in the form of rivers, lakes and swamps (FAO, 2016) which accounts for more than 40% ground and surface water in the entire Southern African Region. This abundance of water resources thus provides the basis for the extensive freshwater fisheries, having the potential to produce enough fish for consumption and export. However, the fisheries sectors in Zambia is still in its developing stage because notwithstanding the abundance of water resources, almost all the fish harvested is for consumption due to high local demands.

Feeds and Feeding the Fish

The objective of feeding fish is to provide the nutritional requirements for good health, optimum growth, optimum yield and minimum waste within reasonable cost so as to optimize profits (Schmittou et al., 1998). Every farmer should be particular about the quality of feed fed to the fish because it is the feed that determines the:

• Nutrient loading (and ultimately carrying capacity) in the pond, hence water quality within the culture system
• Fish growth rate
• Economic viability of the enterprise. 60-70% of variable production costs in a normal production cycle is due to feed.
• Health status of the fish

Feed Chart for Tilapia

External Parasites of Goats – Justin Talley

Arthropod pests limit production in the goat industry in many ways. External parasites feed on body tissue such as blood, skin and hair. The wounds and skin irritation produced by these parasites result in discomfort and irritation to the animal. Parasites can transmit diseases from sick to healthy animals. They can reduce weight gains and milk production. In general, infested livestock cannot be efficiently managed.

Where There Is No Vet – Bill Forse

This book is for anyone who keeps animals and for people who help, advise or teach others who keep animals.

The book aims to help you to keep healthy animals - or help others to keep healthy animals - in places where there is no vet or veterinary services are not easily available. It also helps you to work out what is wrong with an animal and tells you what to do about it. It will help you to talk to veterinary and other animal health services. If you understand diseases and treatments better you will find it easier to work together with others to keep animals healthy and to ask for better animal health services.

People keep animals in many different ways, in houses or out on open rangeland, for example (see p. 2). People who keep animals out on open rangeland can do things such as moving their animals a long way to different pasture that more settled farmers cannot do. The book gives examples of ways to treat and prevent disease in different places so that you can find one suitable for your area.

Farming Edible Snails – RIRDC

This booklet describing possible techniques for production of edible snails has been prepared by Sonya Begg following a visit to the International Snail Farming Institute and attendance at an International Conference of Snail Farmers in Italy. The location was selected because of the snail farming methods that have been researched for many years in that country.