By Dr.Ruth Waineina
There are about 28 million goats in Kenya, with dairy goats constituting about 502,044. The dairy goats include exotic breeds like the Toggenburg, Alpine, Saanen, and Anglo-Nubian, and their crosses with the indigenous goats, which are the Galla and the small East African goat. The majority of goats in Kenya are indigenous, and are reared in arid and semi-arid lands. The dairy goats are reared in the medium and high-potential areas under intensive and semi-intensive systems, mainly under the zero-grazing system of production.
Goats contribute substantially to households’ earnings through the sale of live animals, milk and meat. Dairy goat milk is an essential product in the livestock products value chains, with annual production in Kenya of about 6.3 million liters. In contrast, local goats produce 118 million liters.Challenges in the dairy goat subsector include the shortage of high-quality breeding stock, inadequate feeds, high drug costs, and low access to markets. Dairy goat farmers are organized
into associations such as Dairy Goats Association of Kenya (DGAK), Meru Goat Breeders Association (MGBA), and Nyanza Dairy Goat Farmers Association (NDGFA), which can make it easier for their products marketing.
DAIRY GOATS PRODUCTS AND THEIR MARKETS
Dairy goat products include live goats, goat milk and dairy goat meat.
(a) Live dairy goats
This is the most important dairy goat product though the goats are kept principally for milk. Constraints to live animal production include: inbreeding; low quality breeds; diseases (PPR and CCPP), and climate change/environment. Markets for live dairy goats include the following:
(i) Local and National markets
Individual farmers, County Governments, development NGOs in Kenya, Government Sheep and goat stations, and research institutions buy dairy goats for breeding.
- Prices range from Kes 15,000 to Kes 35,000 per breeding doe of one year and above.
- Prices of bucks range from Kes 15,000 to Kes 65,000 depending on the farm selling. The higher price is for bucks born from pure imported does.
The majority of the farmers keep dairy goats to get nutritious milk for home consumption and income from the offspring and milk.
(ii) Regional markets
In Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi, individual farmers and development NGOs can expect the price for does and bucks over one year old to be at least Kes 35,000.
(iii) International markets
Sources of dairy goats for breeding by individual farmers or institutions include The Netherlands, Germany, France, Britain, and South Africa. The cost of importing a breeding doe is at least Kes 70,000.
Linkages among actors in live goat sub-chain
Goat producers are linked through breed societies or farmers’ associations, but the linkages are currently not very active. Buyers are not linked to one another, and there is no contract between buyers, farmers, or exporters
(b) Dairy goat milk
Goat milk has a niche market due to its unique nutritional and health benefits to humans. Many consumers of dairy products in developed countries prefer those from goats, especially cheese. Milk as a product is mainly sold as raw milk but it has various other value-added products such as fermented goat milk (mala), milk yoghurt, cheese, ghee and baby food formulations. Markets for dairy goat milk products include the following:
i) Raw or fresh goat milk
Goat milk is sold at a higher price of approximately Kes80-150 per liter, while cow milk is priced at about Kes40-80 per liter. The market for goat milk is low in Kenya due to few buyers and inconsistent milk supplies, especially in the dry season. Goat milk consumption provides positive nutritional and health benefits that can be leveraged for promotion. These benefits include the presence of agents in the milk that are anticarcinogenic, offer cardiovascular protective effects, and assist in treating malabsorption syndromes and infant malnutrition
ii) Value-added goat milk products
Milk is highly perishable and needs proper handling after milking (value addition) to avoid post-harvest losses. Benefits of value addition include increased shelf life, product diversification, increased income, and employment creation. The main constraint to value addition of goat milk in Kenya is the low volumes of goat milk produced, which is also related to the absence of organized markets for goat milk and the low demand for goat milk products locally due to their high cost.
(c) Dairy goats’ meat
After dairy goats have completed their milk production phase or those culled from the flock, they end up in the meat (chevon) market.
(i) Local and National markets
Chevon selling prices vary along the value chain, from the producer (live animal price per kg live weight) to the retailer or butchery. Prices are different for the producer, trader 1 (primary market), trader 2 (secondary market), processor, wholesaler, and retailer (Kes/kg). The retail price of chevon currently ranges between Kes 700-900/kg.