16
Currently, dairy goats provide milk and meat for approximately 100,000
Tanzanian smallholder farmers. The goats are mainly descendants of the 80
Norwegian dairy goats imported to Mgeta district, Morogoro, Tanzania, in the
mid- 1980s. Thirty-five years on, the number of milking goats in Tanzania is more
than 500,000, distributed all over the country.
How have the vegetable farmers of Mgeta in collaboration with the SUA-NMBU
alliance been able to pioneer this success? The answer is rather simple. We introduced a superior and at the same time easily adaptable production system. Tanzanian
farmers keep around 16 million local East African goats for meat only, and they
provide an annual meat yield of 8–12 kg giving an income of 30,000 TZS per female
goat (doe) with offspring. A Norwegian doe, on the other hand, will provide the
same amount of meat plus 240 kg milk, raising the traditional annual income by
almost tenfold, to 270,000 TZS per doe. This total may even rise to 340,000 TZS per
doe for breeders selling 3–4-month-old live goat kids, which come as additional
income to milk. Based on these scenarios, it is no wonder that so many farmers
testify about dairy-goat keeping transforming their lives.
In terms of biological efficiency, milking goats are far superior to meat producers. We have calculated using farm data from Mgeta that one dairy goat may provide
the same amount of edible animal protein as 33 local East African goats combined.
Aquaculture is an important component of the EPINAV program. Training of
farmers has proven to be successful, and fish farming is increasing in popularity
across the country, where fish farmers mostly produce tilapia. The productivity of
the native Tanzanian tilapia that is based on wild stocks is low compared to the
genetically improved fast-growing strains. SUA can play a critical role using its
research expertise to play a leading role in selective breeding to develop a bettergrowing tilapia strain.
Integrated aquaculture has great potential in improving food security and ensuring
diversification of diets, as the systems generate both animal proteins and vegetables.
However, there is a need to reach out to medium- and large-scale farmers in order to
achieve meaningful gains in aquaculture production. Private companies can play a critical role in disseminating developed technologies by SUA. For instance, they can serve
as multiplication centers for quality fingerlings from broodstock developed at SUA.
7 Transformative Thinking in Agriculture
We may have learned how humans contribute to climate change at proximal level,
but we rarely ask why we leave a larger-than-necessary carbon footprint. The reality
is that, due to the urgency of emerging climate crises, incremental change in
technology may not address the problems at their source. To address these problems
at their source, we introduce the idea of personal transformation for changing our
attitude for greater good and for sustainable agriculture. We presented few educational perspectives, where a transformation refers to the change or shift of meaning
on dominant ideas, beliefs, and assumptions. We argue that the transformation takes
B. R. Singh et al.
Currently, dairy goats provide milk and meat for approximately 100,000
Tanzanian smallholder farmers. The goats are mainly descendants of the 80
Norwegian dairy goats imported to Mgeta district, Morogoro, Tanzania, in the
mid- 1980s. Thirty-five years on, the number of milking goats in Tanzania is more
than 500,000, distributed all over the country.
How have the vegetable farmers of Mgeta in collaboration with the SUA-NMBU
alliance been able to pioneer this success? The answer is rather simple. We introduced a superior and at the same time easily adaptable production system. Tanzanian
farmers keep around 16 million local East African goats for meat only, and they
provide an annual meat yield of 8–12 kg giving an income of 30,000 TZS per female
goat (doe) with offspring. A Norwegian doe, on the other hand, will provide the
same amount of meat plus 240 kg milk, raising the traditional annual income by
almost tenfold, to 270,000 TZS per doe. This total may even rise to 340,000 TZS per
doe for breeders selling 3–4-month-old live goat kids, which come as additional
income to milk. Based on these scenarios, it is no wonder that so many farmers
testify about dairy-goat keeping transforming their lives.
In terms of biological efficiency, milking goats are far superior to meat producers. We have calculated using farm data from Mgeta that one dairy goat may provide
the same amount of edible animal protein as 33 local East African goats combined.
Aquaculture is an important component of the EPINAV program. Training of
farmers has proven to be successful, and fish farming is increasing in popularity
across the country, where fish farmers mostly produce tilapia. The productivity of
the native Tanzanian tilapia that is based on wild stocks is low compared to the
genetically improved fast-growing strains. SUA can play a critical role using its
research expertise to play a leading role in selective breeding to develop a bettergrowing tilapia strain.
Integrated aquaculture has great potential in improving food security and ensuring
diversification of diets, as the systems generate both animal proteins and vegetables.
However, there is a need to reach out to medium- and large-scale farmers in order to
achieve meaningful gains in aquaculture production. Private companies can play a critical role in disseminating developed technologies by SUA. For instance, they can serve
as multiplication centers for quality fingerlings from broodstock developed at SUA.
7 Transformative Thinking in Agriculture
We may have learned how humans contribute to climate change at proximal level,
but we rarely ask why we leave a larger-than-necessary carbon footprint. The reality
is that, due to the urgency of emerging climate crises, incremental change in
technology may not address the problems at their source. To address these problems
at their source, we introduce the idea of personal transformation for changing our
attitude for greater good and for sustainable agriculture. We presented few educational perspectives, where a transformation refers to the change or shift of meaning
on dominant ideas, beliefs, and assumptions. We argue that the transformation takes
B. R. Singh et al.