On 12^th of May we visited Doris Yohana, one of the beneficiaries of the “the Dairy Goat Project '' in the Uluguru Mountains. When we arrived, we found Doris’ and her family waiting for us. They instantly told us that their new baby goat was sick, having wounds and scabs around its muzzle and mouth. We immediately diagnosed the kid with ORF, a very common disease in Tanzania among small-scale farmers. But before revealing how this story ends, let us explain how Doris got her goats in the first place.

THE DAIRY GOAT PROJECT

Did you know that having a goat can increase your health and income? On the one hand, goat milk diversifies the diet of farmers and their family. On the other hand, surplus milk can be sold at the local market, and processed into high priced goods like butter. For this reason, SAT started to collaborate with Echo and Bothar with the training of farmers in February 2021. Where by 1st of May, 23 dairy goats were distributed to farmers in four zones of the Uluguru Mountains, Morogoro (Ruvuma, Tulo, Kisosa, Choma).

The final goal of the project is to scale-up the number of goats hold by each farmer, and therefore provide more financial security. This is achieved by distributing female goats to 19 families in the first step, while keeping one buck in each zone. After the goat has given birth to six kids, three of them are given away to other farmer families, who previously did not receive a goat. Thanks to the ongoing efforts of the farmers and the facilitators, 30 farmers have benefitted from the project to this date. By doing so, the project strengthens the farmers’ communities and their solidarity. With our project, we hope to build the foundation for a long-term positive change.

A SIMPLE SOLUTION TO ORF

Let’s come back to the story of Doris and her kid. Since the disease ORF is common, it can easily be identified and cured. Together with Doris, our veterinarian treated the kid by using organic methods: Warm water mixed with salt. The wounds of the kid were cleaned carefully for three consecutive days. As ORF is a virus and spreads easily, the mother’s udder got infected during the kid’s suckling of milk and had to be treated, too.

Both the mother and kid could successfully recover and get back to good health. This experience is shared in the village for other farmers to learn and use incase they face similar problems.