Courtesy of Danielle Langloism, Wikipedia CCLA Twist on Goat Programs
Like many economically challenged areas, Kyuso district in Kenya is initiating a project to distribute goats in an attempt to improve impoverished conditions. The twist is this: the project, Njaa Marufuku, is based in the schools.
Parents of students will be given a gala doe. Each school will be provided the means to acquire a toggenburg buck. The does will then be taken to the school for breeding and returned to the student’s home. When the gala goat has produced two kids for the family, it is returned to the school to be distributed to another family.
The process continues until every farmer has goats at which time the original two goats are returned to the school to be sold. The goal is for families to be able to produce multi-purpose goats, both meat and dairy, thereby fulfilling a portion of their food needs.
I can relate. I “inherited” three bottle boys last year. They taught me to feed all three of them at once. I’d sit on a stool, hold a bottle between my knees, and one in each hand. It didn’t take long and they automatically went to the same spot each time. Amazing what those little tykes can do.