Story by Providence Maraneli
GOAT farmers in Matabeleland South Province are beginning to reap the benefits of the Esigodini Agricultural College’s livestock innovation hub, with six farmer field schools receiving high-quality buck breeds to enhance their herds.
As part of the government’s ongoing efforts to support communal farmers in adapting to climate change and improving livestock quality, Esigodini Agricultural College has been equipped with infrastructure and technical expertise through a collaboration with a development partner.
The initiative is aimed at helping surrounding communities mitigate the impact of increasingly harsh climatic conditions.
The college’s innovation hub has already begun to bear fruit, with local field schools reporting noticeable improvements in their livestock.
“We are excited to have received this buck, it will improve our breed. We have 250 goats now and right now we have 40 kids which are a direct result of this innovation,” Queen of the Reds Goat Project representative, Ms Sikhumbulile Dube said.
“Our goats were being sold at low prices because of their stature but we are assured that with this buck we are going to have a better breed that can fetch more money in the market,” a farmer said.
The innovation hub, a collaboration between the government and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is set to provide more than 20 farmer field schools in Matabeleland South Province with high-quality breeding stock.
“As a college, we began working with these farmers in 2023 and we have trained their extension staff and the farmers on goat management. We are going to give bucks to 21 farmer field schools. The project will end in 2027, and by then, we think we would have transformed their breeding,” Esigodini Agriculture College Principal, Mr Farai Gomo said.
The government and its development partners are working flat out to facilitate adaptation and mitigation against climate change by farmers.
“I am so impressed by what the college is doing in helping the surrounding communities, these bucks will change the bloodline of their goats thereby improving their chances of getting good breeds which can be marketed internationally.
“They have started with farmer field schools and our wish is it gets upscaled to include other small-scale farmers so that we improve our herd as we turn around the fortunes of livestock production.
“The innovation hub comprising a fully equipped laboratory used to test the stock feed compositions and feed formulation and goat production centre is part of the government’s drive to implement the education 5.0 model,” the Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Honourable Davis Marapira said.
The model entails formulating solutions to challenges like climate change and spurring the country towards an upper-middle-income society by 2030.
