Summary
It has been estimated that in some areas of Malawi the incidence of malnutrition in children under the age of 5 may be as high as 70%. The problem is particularly severe in children who have been weaned off breast milk. Milk is seen as being of special benefit to such children and in many parts of the world the source of that milk would be the goat. Estimates of the number of goats in Malawi vary between 1.0m and 1.5m and yet, with the exception of a few localised areas, those goats are not milked. There does not appear to be any custom or taboo prohibiting the consumption of goat's milk. Indeed, in a survey, Banda (1992a) showed that goats' milk was acceptable to many people and was even preferred to that of the sheep or cow. The aim of this project was therefore to examine the milking potential of the indigenous Malawi goat to determine the feasibility of producing goat's milk in subsistence-farming situations.
If the milk taken from indigenous does is to be useful then daily production needs to be in excess of 150ml. The compositional quality of this milk has been shown to be high with 53g protein/kg. Two hundred millilitres can thus provide a child with over 109 high quality protein (50% of RDA) as well as valuable amounts of Calcium and Vitamin A. In these trials supplemented animals sustained these production levels for an average of 20 weeks in 1993-94 and 12 weeks in 1994. The lower production of unsupplemented animals would still make a contribution to the diets of small children but would be unlikely to justify the effort involved. |
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| Primary Relevance |
Low - High |
| Feeding and Nutrition |
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| Animal Health |
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| Commodities and Markets |
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| Other Husbandry |
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| Policy Relevance |
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However, any such production will only be acceptable if it does not prejudice other outputs and outcomes. Where does were milked but not supplemented kidding was 130%. This figure is not high, in view of the perception of the goat as a fecund animal, but it is better than the 109% reported by Reynolds (1979) and the 107% of Karua (1988). It is clear that supplementation in the period leading up to service improved ovulation rate and hence litter size, as would be expected. Kid mortality is clearly a potential problem, though variations between years have been shown to be considerable. Of the 5 years covered, four have not produced any treatment effects. Over that period overall kid mortality has averaged 38%. The 60% mortality experienced in kids from milked does in 1993 was thus both distressing and unexpected and the outbreak of bacterial scour aside, not easily explained. In terms of growth the 9.18+/-1:1.64 kg at 18 weeks attained by those surviving to that age was higher than those attained in the earlier trials and in line with those reported by Renolds (1979), for kids from unmilked does, which averaged 8.2+/-2.0kg at 12 wks and 11.9+/-2.7kg at 24 weeks. Malnutrition does not therefore appear to have been a problem, in surviving kids at least!
It is normally expected that lactating females lose weight in early lactation and this weight loss may be associated with delays in re-establishment of oestrus and/or poor conception rates, especially if it exceeds 5% of bodyweight. All three trial groups lost weight, as expected, but losses were within the acceptable range and did not affect subsequent reproductive performance. It is therefore suggested that the hand-milking of does is a practice which may be undertaken without detriment to the doe or to her production. It is clear, however that kid mortality may be substantial and that the benefits of having milk available will need to be weighed against these potential losses. Nonetheless, it is accepted that, despite attempts to mirror subsistence farming conditions, it is possible that in a genuine village situation the impact of the strategy might be greater. It is considered desirable that an evaluation of the technique be carried out under village conditions. Further, given that the routine, daily milking of does with very small teats might be considered tedious, such an evaluation would allow evaluation of the acceptability of the technique and the likelihood of its uptake. In view of the intention to make any milk produced available to the younger children in a family, it is desirable that the woman of the house be the main participant in any such trial.
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