By Herbert Musoke and Joshua Kato
As the demand for goats’ meat increases every day that goes for sh18,000 and sh20,000 per kilogramme, more people are picking interest in venturing into the business.
For this Grace Bwogi, a goat farmer at Bwogi Farm in Rakai and an expert with goats farming, says whoever wants to invest into goat farming as a business, has to be the overall employee of the farm, carry out a work plan and consultation with experts.
“Search for knowledge about goat farming to help you make informed decisions. Here you will be able to decide on which breed to go for, zero grazing or free-range system, how much land you need, the market among others,” she says.
She says goats need housing to protect them from conditions like rains and coldness especially after grazing. Setting up a shelter will cost about sh2m which could be more or less according to places.
According to Bwogi, you need sh3m and above to start goat farming assuming you have land. This will facilitate housing, buy your stock, a drug kit, a few other things to help you start.
If you plan to buy land, Bwogi advises that you should not buy land that is in a swampy area because goats don’t want cold places because cold conditions cause respiratory diseases to them. An acre can take on 15 to 20 goats on free range. Under zero grazing, 40 goats can be grazed on an acre, but plan for the feeds of the goats for at least 3 to 6 months before you stock by planting different pastures.
“The best time to stock your farm is during the dry season i.e. January, June, July. This is because goats do so better during the dry season than in the wet one. They fall sick less and the worm burden is very low. The other time to stock is when parents are taking their children to school. At this time there are many sellers and few willing buyers, thus the prices are a little down,” she says.
She emphasises that you should stock animals from farms not markets. The risk of stocking sickly, old, problematic goats on your farm is very high if you got them from the market.
According to Bwogi, if you are to sell your stock, do a survey first before you storm the market. Know things like the prevailing farm gate prices and the possible buyers. Goats have a small profit margin, but ensure you sell in big numbers to get some good money out of your project. At 5-6 months, a good breed goat should be sold at sh200, 000 and sh300, 000.
