Why Goat Farming in Northern Communal Areas of Namibia Is not Commercialised: The Case of Ogongo Constituency

Abstract

In Namibia, goat products are not found in the formal markets include retail shops. This is despite several attempts by the government of Namibia to promote goat products in the formal sector. At household level however, goat meat is a delicacy. This study therefore seeks to provide possible reasons for the unavailability of goat products in Northern Namibia focussing on the supply side of the goat market. A structured survey questionnaire was employed among 75 goat farmers in Ogongo Constituency, Omusati Region in North Central Namibia. The data sought included production, offtake and marketing of goats as well as challenges faced. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data and multiple linear regression was employed to determine the factors influencing offtake rate. The offtake rate (percent of goats sold) was estimated as 2.8% from the data, which is very low. The offtake rate was significantly influenced by age of the head of household (p<0.01), education level of the household head (p<0.01) and marital status (p<0.01). On the other hand, goat production was affected by other challenges such as unavailability of marketing infrastructure, diseases, grazing shortages, and frequent droughts. The implications of these findings on policy include provision of incentives to farmers to sale as well as providing marketing infrastructure. Thus the study recommends the sensitization of communal farmers on economic potential of selling goats to alleviate poverty and to improve livelihoods through income generation.