The Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) will host a goat farming seminar next month which will concentrate on dairy goat production.
The one-day seminar on 07 August will be led by Dr Terry Gipson, an internationally recognised goat expert from Langston University’s E (Kika) de la Garza American Institute for Goat Research in the United States of America.
A media release by the CCF on Wednesday said the seminar will amongst others discuss topics such as improving goat herds; artificial insemination in dairy goats and breeding strategies and objectives for small ruminants in the tropics.
The CCF received a grant from the Kirkpatrick Foundation in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to work with professors from the E (Kika) de la Garza American Institute for Goat Research to develop goat farming methodologies.
CCF maintains herds of dairy goats in conjunction with its livestock guarding dog programme and model farm.
In 2009, the fund began making cheese products from their goat’s milk, while in 2013, it opened the Dancing Goat Creamery at its centre to start producing other products such as cheese, ice cream, fudge and soap.
The Dancing Goat Creamery doubles as test facility for developing new products and ancillary revenue streams from goat milk and a training facility for rural farmers and University of Namibia Food Science students, the CCF said.
“Improving livelihoods for goat farmers is central to CCF’s holistic approach to cheetah conservation, which carefully considers the needs of humans and livestock and wildlife sharing farmlands,” said Dr Laurie Marker, CCF Founder and Executive Director.
The American Institute for Goat Research has a long history of working with countries in Africa, beginning in the mid-1900’s with research collaborations with Ethiopian universities.
Those efforts have expanded to other African countries and now include both research and extension education/training activities.
The mission of the institute is to develop and transfer enhanced goat production system technologies, with impacts at local, national and international level.
Care for goat producers worldwide is engendered through international activities that encompass research, human capacity building, and village development.
These programmes, along with knowledgeable and caring personnel and a dedication to the improvement of the lives of goat producers around the world, have made the institute a recognised leader in the arena of goat production technologies.