I recently had the opportunity to do some volunteer work in
Kenya. My brother and dad have a long term relationship with
Tenwek Hospital near Bomet, Kenya. My brother (a pediatric
surgeon) has volunteered in the hospital on numerous visits and
my dad has worked the Tenwek Community Health and
Development (TCH&D). I went to give some advice on a
purebred dairy goat program the TCH&D had started about 6
years ago.
The purebred dairy goat program is part of a sustainable food
program that TCH&D helps local community groups get started.
TCH&D target areas that are high on the governments poverty
index. They specifically look for groups that have a majority of
women. Dairy goats offer several advantages over cows as a
source of milk. There is a ready market for fresh cow's milk so
that it is most often sold and as such is unavailable for home
consumption. There is no such market for goat's milk so any milk
produced will make a significant nutritional contribution to the
family that owns the goat.
The goat program provides four "M's": milk, money, manure and
meat. The community groups are initially made up of 15-20
members. Each group is started with 10 does and 1 buck. The
members must agree to build the goat houses, attend the training
sessions (on goat husbandry, group dymamics, and fodder
growing) and pay 10% of the start-up cost. The start-up costs are
about $3000, so the group will pay about $300. The group
determines which members will receive the initial 10 goats by
ballot. As the does give birth other members will receive their
goats. TCH&D stays involved for the first year. TCH&D is getting
ready to start a new group in the next 2 months, but it is the first
group started in the last 2 years because they have lacked the
funding. The demand for the program is huge and TCH&D could
start at least 2 new groups annually if funding were available.
The first group was started over 5 years ago and has over 40
goats. I was very impressed with the program and the work that
TCH&D is doing with helping the farmer establish sustainable
food programs.
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