Smallholder farmers in Kenya are increasingly turning to dairy goat rearing as a means to grow incomes while improving nutrition in rural areas.
The Dairy Goat Association of Kenya (DGAK) has been urging farmers to breed the animals, which are cheaper than dairy cattle, for milk and other dairy products. A dairy goat goes for around 6,500 Shillings ($96) depending on size, according to DGAK chairman, Benson Kinuthia Kihanya.
Since 2001, the association has been keeping breeding bucks (male goats) and touting the health and commercial benefits of goat dairy products.
The government is pushing goat milk to the forefront as well, by introducing the concept into the pending Dairy Bill, said Dr. Philip Chirono, the technical manager of the Kenya Dairy Board. Already, demand for the milk-producing animals is higher than the availability of the few breeding animals in Kenya.
Government agricultural institutions do not have any for sale. And outside of Nakuru and Nyeri districts, where farmers have come together to start breeders associations, there are no other organised breeding groups in Kenya.
While a litre of goat's milk can fetch Sh60.00 (90 cents ) in most parts of the country where the animal is raised, it is not currently found in supermarkets and shops. The goats offer more than just milk, as their manure is sold as fertiliser, for which horticultural farmers will pay Sh3,000 ($ 45) per tonne.
Mr. Kihanya, who keeps 15 Alpine goats and five Toggens, both milk producing varieties, is a retrenched National Bank of Kenya worker who maintains his family with the income from his goats. He raises the animals on just one acre, and said if it weren't for the milk-producing goats he would have no salary. He plans to have 40 to 50 goats on his new farm.
DGAK has created links with agricultural organisations such as Farm-Africa Meru, Kenya Stud Book, Livestock Department, Provincial Administration, and other breeders.
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