Nkayi tops in goat herd
Chronicle 22 September 2017
Wilson Dakwa, Business Reporter
NKAYI District has the largest number of goats in the country but farmers need to improve their breeds to meet export quality standards, a Cabinet Minister has said.
Speaking during a provincial SMEs Chamber meeting held in Lupane on Tuesday, Small to Medium Enterprises and Co-operative Development Minister, Sithembiso Nyoni said rural entrepreneurs stand a chance to reap more through exporting goat meat, mainly to the Middle East, if they work on improving their breeds.
Minister Nyoni urged farmers to utilise Information Communication Technology (ICTs) centres established by Government across provinces to conduct research on how they can improve their goat quality and also consider cross breeding.
“Nkayi has the largest number of goats nationally but the quality of the goats is not at par with what is required for exports. This is the case in most of our provinces save for Mashonaland East. Farmers ought to consider cross breeding their goats with those from Mash East and also use the ICT centres, which His Excellence (President Mugabe) launched to research on markets for goats and also the best ways to look after them,” said Minister Nyoni. She said major markets for goat meat include the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Indonesia, Uganda and Angola, which require 25 tonnes of goat meat per week. The export price of goat meat ranges from $9 to $10 per kilogramme. .
At least 97 percent of the estimated 3.3 to 3.4 million national goat herd is owned by small holder farmers who rarely breed goats for commercial purposes despite the fact that the country has potential to export goat products.
According to the Department of Agriculture Research and Extension Services at Matopo Research Centre, common goat breeds in Zimbabwe include the Matabele, Mashona, the Boer goat and the Kalahari breeds. Goat farming is usually hindered by various factors such as high kid mortality and lack of good animal husbandry practices.
Minister Nyoni also urged entrepreneurs to utilise available loan facilities to formalise their businesses and also form co-operatives so as to increase their access to different sources of funding for the SMEs sector.
“Entrepreneurs should document their turnovers as this enables us to determine whether they are micro, small, medium or large enterprises. Being registered with us enables SMEs owners to apply for the loan facilities, which have been availed to them. We also train those Savings and Credit Co-operatives (SACCOs) on business management skills,” she said. — @WilsonDakwa1.