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Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
SMALL holder farmers have been urged to increase goat rearing as the animals are tolerant to drought and could assist communities’ resistance to socio-economic shocks.

Beitbridge Rural District Council chief executive officer, Mr Peter Moyo, said small holder farmers in Matabeleland region stand to benefit immensely from commercial goat rearing.

He was speaking during a field day hosted by Caritas Masvingo at one of the up-and-coming smallholder farmers, Mr Herbert Zhou, of Joko Resettlement area in Beitbridge district.

“Recurrent droughts expose small holder farmers to poverty and hunger. It is realised that goat production is a good drought copying option and strategy, considering that they are tolerant to the harsh conditions and can survive on shrubs,” said Mr Moyo.

“The Zimbabwe Agro-livelihoods Innovation Project (ZALIP) realises that productivity of goats strengthens community resilience to shocks such as droughts that adversely affect livelihoods.

“With adequate knowledge on animal husbandry, sufficient information and adoption of new technologies, they may improve their economic conditions by tapping the lucrative market for goat meat.”

He said it was important for the farmers to view goat production as a business and not a status symbol, adding that ruminants were increasingly being used to augment cash income and enhancing food security in drought prone areas.

Mr Moyo also commended Caritas Masvingo for coming up with the initiative to capacitate 2 500 small holders farmers on modern goat rearing methods.
ZALIP’s field officer for Beitbridge, Mr Enock Kwinika, said they were working with other stakeholders on a goat value chain project in 15 rural wards.

“We are helping them with basic farming knowledge in terms of rearing and marketing,” he said. The host small holder farmer, Mr Zhou, called on financial institutions to avail funds for most of the people who were finding it difficult to access implements due to limited resources.

“The main challenge we are having here is accessing loans from financial institutions to procure most of the implements we require here.

“We can be very productive if we get all the necessary support from extension workers, the government and development agencies,” said Mr Zhou.