Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 1.3
Goat populations and their global distribution.
1986
(Million)
2007
(Million)
% of Total
(2007)
Average Annual
Growth Rate (%/yr)
Region
Africa
153.4
245
28.8
3.0
Asia
288
545
64.1
4.5
Europe
20
18.1
2.1
−
0.45
Americas
34.6
41.1
4.8
0.9
Oceania
1.5
1.0
0.1
− 1.7
North America
1.8
3
0.3
3.4
Latin America and
Caribbean
32.8
38.1
4.5
0.8
Developing countries
186
351
41.3
4.4
Food defi cit countries
385
728.6
85.7
4.5
Least developed countries
126.6
246
29
4.7
Total world
497.5
850.2
—
3.5
Source: FAO, 2007 .
GOAT PRODUCTS AND PRODUCTIVITY
Goats produce meat, milk, fi ber, and skins. Goat meat is
widely consumed locally and may be exported. Milk is of
secondary importance, being consumed primarily by the
household in developing countries. In developed countries,
milk and milk products and notably cheese are sold com-
mercially and consumed widely. Milk and milk products are
important contributors to human nutrition (Haenlein, 2004).
Commercially, goat fi ber (mohair, cashmere) is the most
luxurious fi ber in the world and goatskin is a very valuable
product with high added value especially in European
markets. In developing countries, the value of goatskins
often is not recognized due to inadequate knowledge and
poor processing methods. India is one exception due to the
advances in their tannery function and processing methods.
Consequently, the export of skins is a major source of
income for India.
Figure 1.1 illustrates global goat meat and milk produc-
tion from 1980 to 2007. Globally, goat meat and milk
production were 5.1 and 14.8 million metric tons (MT) in
2007, respectively. These numbers represent increases of
3.0- and 2.0-fold from 1.7 and 7.7 million MT from those
of 1980. The total world meat and milk inventories in 2007
according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations (FAOSTAT) were 285.7 and 671.3 million
MT (FAOSTAT, 2007), respectively. Goat meat and milk
production represents only 2.0 and 2.2% of the global
inventory, respectively. Unlike other major meats and
milk, goat meat and milk are not widely traded but instead
are consumed locally.
the focal points for goat dispersion along two routes
(Devendra and Nozawa, 1976):
1. From Iran, Afghanistan, and Turkistan to Mongolia and
northern China along the Silk Road.
2. From the Indian subcontinent to Asia and Europe
through the Khyber Pass.
The second route is older, being used by the Indo-Aryan
people from the north in the second millennium BC.
Mongolia, China, and India received domestic goats from
nomadic and seminomadic pastoralists from western and
central Asia who used these routes.
Because goats are fully adapted to drier, semiarid to arid
AEZ environments, they thrive in sub-Saharan Africa
(SSA). Among grassland environments, in the mixed
rainfed arid and semiarid grassland systems, and in all
mixed systems, goats and sheep outnumber cattle.
A similar situation exists in rainfed arid and semiarid
Rajasthan in the northern parts of India. In such environ-
ments, goats and sheep are critical for the livelihood of the
landless and marginal farmers in West Asia, North Africa,
north India, north Brazil, and north Mexico.
The principal reason for the wide distribution of the goat
species is their intrinsic capacity to adapt to different bio-
physical conditions and environments. This adaptability is
aided by their inquisitive nature and independent habits.
This in turn becomes refl ected in their adaptations in terms
of anatomical, morphological, physiological, feeding
behavior, and metabolic modifi cations under different cli-
matic conditions (Table 1.4 ).
