Effects of different types of housing on goat productivity in Mbizingwe village, Umzingwane.

Abstract

Nearly 90% of the national goat flock in Zimbabwe is kept in the smallholder sector. Goat production in the smallholder farming systems fulfils multiple roles that include; the provision of meat, milk, manures, skins, and barter trade. The farmers here keep the indigenous breeds which are hardy and also have a high prolificacy rate. However, despite their prolificacy, productivity remains low in this sector. The main constraints are high prevalence of diseases and parasites, high mortality rates, inappropriate housing, lack of records, inbreeding, and limited forage availability. However, this study was baseline survey and it sought to identify housing systems used in the small holder farms and to evaluate the effect those housing systems on productivity. The study was carried out in Mbizingwe village. The area is in a semi-arid region of Zimbabwe where there is low rainfall and high abundance of browsable tree species. A structured questionnaire was administered to collect the data for the study and 28 farmers partook in this survey. Data was analysed using SPSS and a chi square test was used to analyse the effect of different housing systems on flock sizes. The results showed that farmers in Mbizingwe were using roofed, unroofed over ground and concrete floor housing kraal. This research also revealed that housing had an effect on goat productivity. The majority of farmers were using unroofed kraals and their flock performance was low compared to the other housing systems.