KZN Goat Agribusiness Project at Royal Show 2023
Are you interested in farming goats? Would you like advice and information? Then be sure to visit the Sheep & Wool Expo at the Royal Show this year, where the friendly representatives of the KZN Goat Agribusiness Project (GAP) will be happy to advise and assist you.
The GAP is an innovative community project that is leading the way in boosting food security and supporting small-scale entrepreneurs, all while attempting to establish a thriving export industry. And the key to their success? Goats!
Through community-based vaccination and nutrition programs, the GAP aims to increase local goat production by up to 60%, and reduce South Africa’s reliance on imported goats from Namibia, while also improving lives across the province.
With a five-year goal of doubling indigenous goat production, developing 7,000 women commercial farmers, creating 620 youth jobs and 700 microbusinesses, and generating an extra R100 million in value from the herds, the GAP is a force to be reckoned with.
The project is already making waves in five districts of the province, and is looking to expand its reach with the help of partners such as the Mdukatshani Rural Development Project, HPSA, the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, and the Department of Agriculture.
The project's hubs are individual homesteads where women are in charge of the goat herds, and more than 100 dips in an area spanning from the Drakensberg to the Mozambique border.
To support the needs of these women farmers, the project has trained 300 youth as Community Animal Health Workers to administer animal health services, organise winter feed, manufacture protein/energy blocks, and process hides for leather products.
With 5,000 project members and growing, the project is already making a huge impact across the KZN countryside.
Visit the Goat Agribusiness Project in the Sheep & Wool Expo at the Royal Show this year, where they will have educational materials available, including books on goat and chicken farming, protein blocks for sale, and a display of a range of beautiful indigenous goats that always attracts a lot of attention!
Go to their website at www.gapkzn.co.za to learn more about this exciting project.
