Dairy Goat Production In Pap Onditi, Kisumu County

Dairy Goat farming is in great demand in this rural area of Pap Onditi in Kisumu County with a population of over 2000 people, majority being children and women. The majority of this population does suffer from opportunistic sicknesses caused by malnutrition due to lack of adequate milk supply. This is due to rampant cattle rustling which has made it difficult to keep Dairy cows for milk production and the weather does not favor the dairy cows. The best option is keeping of dairy Goats, which are cheaper to keep, and produce highly nutritious and medicinal milk products. In terms of income, goat milk is highly profitable than cow milk.

With the current population, I am very much optimistic, that the demand for dairy milk cannot be meet by this individual project program. Our long-term initiative is to recruit many families to venture into dairy goat farming to boost production. Dairy goat farming in Kenya is emerging as a high-return option for Kenyan small-scale farmers. Know that unlike local goats, dairy goats are bred for milk production and can produce up to 10 times that of the locals. They multiply fast, kidding twice a year often producing twin kids.

Project Details

Dairy goats have long been considered an important source of income for rural populations, providing the opportunity for profitable and sustainable diversity for small farms. Their importance is also increasing in intensive feeding systems and in large farms. They are highly adaptable due to their popular form unique feeding habits and have become popular form of livestock animals in a range of environments, from temperate grasslands to subtropical, semi-arid and mountainous areas. Moreover, goat milk products are finding a growing acceptance in the world market and research has increased in feeding strategies for improved productivity and quality. Examining all aspects of dairy goat feeding and nutrition, this project represents a long awaited review of recent scientific research and updated techniques. We shall address the aspects such as the modeling and production of goat’s milk as well as the estimation of nutrient requirements and food intake of goats.

Apart from milk production, I intend to produce high productive breeds, which I will sell to the locals for their production, and also a training center for the locals to get skills on how to do dairy goat production.

In my budget, I have not included the rent fee since I have a piece of land set aside for the project thus cutting on renting costs. Also included in the budget is the consultation fee which will be used to pay the experts in the dairy farms organization or from the livestock department.

Dairy Feeds
Dairy goats are popular with many small-scale farmers. They are relatively easy to feed and do not require a lot of space to rear. However, most farmers with dairy goats do not manage them well, so they cannot be healthy and productive enough to give good returns. Like all other animals, goats require a balanced diet that has all the required nutrients such as proteins, carbohydrates (energy) and vitamins to maintain a good body condition. Below we give some important information on goat feeding which should help farmers to keep highly productive dairy goats. Space for a run in formulating a ration for dairy goats, it is important to note the best way to feed goats and that the rations will be presented to the animals in the stalls.

However, goats should have sufficient space to exercise and stretch. It is a pity to see how small the cages of goats usually are – they are kept like prisoners! A sample ration Dairy goats’ rations are formulated from roughage mainly sourced from forages, water, minerals and concentrates. They should be fed according to body weight and physiological requirements. Dry matter amount is critical in feeding dairy goats. The dry matter requirement is 6% of the body weight. A goat weighing 30 kg will require 1.8 kg of dry matter. Here is an example of an ideal daily ration for dairy goat: 5kg of Napier 0.5kg of sweet potato vines 0.7 kg.
My income projection

Within the next three months, we expect to have all goats to be having kids whereby each goat will produce at least 3 liters of milk per day, having 18 goats, 54 liters of milk will be produced on a daily basis. 1 liter of milk will retail at Ksh 120 which gives us Ksh 6480 in one day. In a month, I will have raised Ksh 194,400. Ksh 94,400 will be used for the monthly expenses and I will be left with Ksh 100000 as profit per month which from it I will be able to give 20% of the profits to MavenCORE.

I believe MavenCORE will help see this project through since it will help the people around not only with milk production but also to empower the local communities on dairy goat production skills which can also help them to initiate similar projects thus boosting the economy scale of the country.