BAckground

This initiative is part of the effort to help smallholders improve their food supply. In rural Rwanda, mal- and undernutrition is still an ackowledged reality. Milk is an important source of nutrition. 
Our experience with cows in this area, from 2011 til 2018, was that large resources are invested to produce one litre of milk; the initial investment to buy a cow, the need for enough land to produce forage and for grazing, medical costs and more. Despite the fact that cow ownership is an important tradition in Rwandan culture, we decided to look for alternatives.  Goat's milk can be given to babies, and hence an advantage in an attempt to improve their nutrition. There is little tradition for dairy goats, but we found one farmer in Rwanda with a large herd. After visiting this farmer, Fred and Jacques agreed we should try to raise some dairy goats. In January 2019, Torgrim Daling (a agricultural teacher at Skjetlein Senior High School, Norway) accompanied Jacques to select and buy dairy goats.   

Goal

• To find a more sustainable alternative to cow milk production.  

Beneficiaries

20 primary 

HOW

• To test if purebred dairy goats can acclimatise to climate on the farm. They did, so we continued.
  
• To sensitize the local population to the health benefits of goat's milk, and the financial advantage of raising dairy goats instead of cows. 
• To train local farmers in dairy goat husbandry, including growing sustainable forage.  
• To find a viable system for crossbreeding with local goats with the goal to improve milking capability of local goats.

​Five goats, one male and 4 females were bought, of which 2 were pregnant. Three kids were born, and milking began. Our goatherd, Daniel, was at first sceptical to milking the goats. Children teased him and gave him the nickname, "Goat Daniel". One young widow with an undernourished 3 year old was invited to come daily to the farm to get milk for her child. Initially she refused, feeling it was degrading and shameful to get a stigmatized product. Gradually she was willing to try, and her daughter's health improved rapidly. In January 2020, Nadia, began at school, an alert and content child. 
Nadia and her mother paved the way to an understanding that goat milk is an even better resource than cow's milk. Local leaders select vulnerable families who receive goat milk for a period of time. The local school is active to promote the benefits of goat milk, and bring groups of school children on field trips to the farm. 
​The District vet viewed a crossbreed (between a purebred dairy goat and a local goat) as the most viable animal for the area, and suggested developing a crossbreeding  programme. Hence we maintain a purebred dairy herd on the farm, whilst local farmers are invited to bring their local does to servicing with purebred bucks lent (from the farm) to local farmers. The crossbreed offspring will in principle have 50% of the milk quantity of a purebred dairy goat. 

Time Line

2024      Improve follow up in the community. Start a trial with a dairy goat at the local school. 
2023      In the process of selecting suitable farmers for extending the crossbreeding programme.  
2022      Crossbreeding programme with local goats is implemented. Sold one buck to an NGO. Stable, healthy herd. Self-sufficient with high quality forage.  
​2021       Herd has increased to 17. All goats are ID marked. One buck is lent to a resourceful farmer to start a crossbreeding programme. 
​2020      Herd has increased to 11 dairy goats. Registration system for the goats is in place.  
2019       5 purebred dairy goats purchased. Milking started. School children and teachers were invited to visit and learn about the goats. Planted napier grass and macuna for forage. Milk given to the most vulnerable children in the area. 
2018       Researched dairy goat husbandry. Sourced one dairy goat herd in Rwanda. Planted calliandra trees for forage.