Farmers: How we rear award-winning goats

Watching a flock of Toggenburg goats grazing at Mr James Munjuri’s farm at Mbeu Ward in Tigania West, Meru, is a sight to behold. They are all healthy and strong.

Munjuri, a seasoned goat breeder, says he always feeds them well before he showcases them at Agricultural Society of Kenya shows and other agribiz exhibitions. That explains the many awards they have earned him.

Every year, the farmer exhibits his goats at the ASK International Trade Fairs in Nairobi, Meru and other counties.

“We bring many goats to the trade fair in Nairobi to showcase. On that day, we sell many of them. Sometimes we go back to Meru with none,” says the farmer.

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Munjuri’s journey with goats started in 2002 and along the way, he and others formed an association to enable them improve the breed and distribute it in the county.

That is how Meru Dairy Farmers Association of which he is the chairman, came into existence. The association breeds Toggenburg goats which it distributes to farmers groups in Meru, Tharaka Nithi and other counties.

While most farmers kept the goats for milk and meat, the association decided to go a step further — value addition.

“The milk of the toggenburg is highly nutritious and is always recommended for invalids, children or any person who wants quality milk. Half a litre of milk costs Sh280. At the last Nairobi International Trade Fair we were selling a litre at Sh300, and we sold very many litres!” says the farmer, also an agrovet at Mikinduri in Tigania East.

With a Toggenburg having the ability to produce about 600 litres in about 250 days and a litre retailing at between Sh85 and Sh100 locally, business is not bad.

Ups and down

Though they have broken even, the started small.

“We started with a few goats from each one of us but along the way, we formed the breeding association to enable us increase productivity and profitability in our goat keeping,” says Munjuri, a father of five.

They are now masters of the game and the association sells a purebred Toggenburg at Sh25, 000. They also crossbreed.

“If it is 85 per cent Toggenburg, we sell at Sh15,000. The price is the same for both sexes and young ones,” he says demonstrating the value the association attaches to the breed.

For those interested in rearing the Toggernburgbreed, they have plenty of advice.

“Water in Tigania is hard to come by. But these goats drink a lot of water, with each goat drinking at least five litres a day. We had to find consistent source of water, feeds and supplements for the herds.”

The group get water from a community project where they part with Sh300 per month.

When they started out, lack of a reliable market was their main concern as many residents did not understand the Toggenburg breed and how to take care of it. But now through various sensitisation campaigns, the market is there. They have now grown tremendously, the association which has 10, 000 members spread across Meru have successfully multiplied the Toggenburgs which they have been selling to different groups.

“The Meru County government is one of our major customers and they bought goats to distribute to families in different areas of the county,” Munjuri says.

Success

With each goat at members’ farms producing an average of three litres, they pooled resources and invested in more goats.

They now sell thousands of litres to Toggs, a company associated with a prominent Kenyan family. The association has three big coolers at Kaguru in South Imenti where they receive milk from members and wait for Toggs to collect it after every three days.

To address issue of feeding the big herd at his farm Munjiri has planted the calliandra tree, sweet potatoes and others which serve as food for the goats.

“The leaves of the calliandra is high in protein which is good for the goats. The leaves of the sweet potatoes are equally nutritious. I also feed them on maize stalk,” he says.  

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