Production Performance and Contribution of Dairy Goats to Income of Small Scale Farmers: A Case of Babati and Kongwa Districts in Tanzania

This study was carried out in Babati and Kongwa districts in Tanzania to determine the lactation performance, reproduction performance, profitability and contribution of dairy goats to household income of small scale farmers. The data were collected from a total of 40 small-scale dairy goat farmers and 40 nondairy goat farmers from four villages using semi structured questionnaire. Gross margin analysis was used to assess the profitability of the dairy goat enterprises. The study revealed that the major income generating activities were both crop and livestock production. The first three reasons for keeping dairy goats in both districts were production of milk for domestic use (99%), generation of income (94%) and provision of manure (77%). Dairy goat production parameters from the study areas indicated that average daily milk yield, total lactation yield, lactation length and dry period were 1.71 ± 0.08, 276.22 ± 24.49 litres, 5.41 ± 0.36 and 1.8 ± 0.11 months, respectively. Age at first kidding was 14.57± 0.28 months and kidding interval was 9.29 ± 0.37 months for Babati district. In Kongwa, average daily milk, total lactation milk yield, lactation length and dry period were 1.37 ± 0.13, 241.35 ± 38.63 litres, 5.44 ± 0.49 and 2.0 ± 0.11 months, respectively. Age at first kidding was 13.04±0.38 months and kidding interval was 9.19 ± 0.50 months. Among the parameters described above only daily milk yield and age at first kidding differed significantly between the two districts (P<0.05). Average annual profit per household from dairy goat enterprise in Babati and Kongwa were US$ 455.73 and US$ 215.18, respectively. Dairy goats contribute 32% in Babati and 25 % in Kongwa districts of the total household income. Average incomes for dairy goat farmers were higher than that of non-dairy goat farmers (US$ 1,417.9 vs US$ 504.56 in Babati and US$ 8,37.31 vs US$ 545.19 in Kongwa). The study showed that, dairy goat enterprises are profitable and significantly contribute to household income. Promotion of dairy goats to other areas of the country is thus recommended.