Main
pages
Contact us
Related
pages
The need
Purebred imported breeds do not do well in Uganda. That is true of both dairy goats
and the Boer (meat) goats from South Africa. By crossbreeding with local goats it
is possible to get more resilient goats, but at the cost of reduced performance.
This is not surprising, it is a pattern that has been repeated whenever animals are
taken into a different environment. There are high performance goats in a wide variety
of environments, but in every case the breeds have been developed under those particular
conditions -
We therefore want to develop suitable breeds of goat for the wet tropical conditions
found in Uganda. The method will be the well-
In the case of meat goats, it would be possible to start with local types, but faster
results can be obtained using low-
Kabulya Commercial Goat
Where there is a good market for goats’ milk, there will be people who are prepared to put more effort and money into keeping the goats, in expectation of greater returns. So with the Kabulya Commercial Goat we are aiming for a breed that is capable of producing commercial quantities of milk, even if that means more expensive feeds and more intensive management. Our starting point for this breed will be goats of between 50% and 75% dairy ancestry.
Kabulya Smallholders Goat
Most of the goat-
Kabulya Meat Goat
Although we have started with dairy goats because of their potential to improve household nutrition as well as income, we are aware that there is also a need for a meat goat that combines high growth rates with disease resistance. We therefore also intend to develop the Kabulya Meat Goat, aimed particularly at traditional livestock farmers keeping larger numbers of goats.
Cows, sheep, pigs, chickens etc
The above targets are plenty enough for one organisation to aim for. We do not have the time or energy to devote to other types of animals. But there is a need for breed development for those other species too. If you are involved in such work, or even if you are just dreaming of it, we would love to hear from you so that we can encourage each other.