Goats help power the engine of recovery for women in northeast Nigeria
FAO supplies goats to more than 14 000 women in worst-affected areas of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states in northeast Nigeria
The Kanyi, a local name for Sahel breed of goat, known for its long legs and striking hair often reddish brown, has long been the dominant breed among the women herders of the Lake Chad Basin. However, due to a nine year long insurgency, particularly in northeastern Nigeria, goat ownership has declined along with crop production among livestock owners and farmers. As part of a mission to invigorate goat herding among cash-strapped and food insecure women, The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is distributing more than 57 000 Kanyi goats to about 14 400 families in 2018.
Since the start of the year, about 40 000 goats have been distributed to an estimated 10 100 households across host communities and camps for Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States thanks to funding from the governments of Germany, Ireland, Sweden and the United States. More than 17 000 more goats will be distributed to about 4 400 households until December, 2018 under Norway and EU-funded projects to restore livelihoods in the northeast.
“FAO’s livestock programme is geared to helping women to better access economic opportunities and begin the recovery process,” said Suffyan Koroma, FAO Representative in Nigeria. “We expect that these goat distributions will have a significant impact on households given the productive potential of the mostly female goats distributed. What begins as three female goats and a male, can after a period of one year, transform into a herd of 10, improving the lives of families as a result,” he shared. Households were given a ratio of three females to one male, maximizing the herd’s chances of multiplying. Goats typically have two to three kids per year.
The animals will also help boost the production of milk, consumed traditionally by children and lactating women, and after herds are established, meat for domestic consumption and marketing. FAO is targeting internally displaced women, residents of host communities and women who have recently returned to their original communities for the distributions. Prior to the insurgency, close to 80 percent of the population of the northeast farmed or reared livestock as their main source of food and income. Now many rely almost exclusively on food assistance.
Rebuilding livelihoods
Hamamatsu Umar, 25-year-old a mother of four, has been at the state-run Government Science Secondary School (GSSS) in Bama, Borno for the last six months. She is one of 600 women who received a starter herd at the camp in Bama in June 2018. “These goats, if Allah wills it, is a security to me if any of my children become sick and I quickly need money for medication,” she said.
For 32-year-old, Falmata Sabsuwa, a mother of three, the goats will help her buy shoes for her children and pay their school fees. Her family has been in GSSS for the last two months after moving from the nearby General Hospital IDP Camp. “I wanted to start keeping animals again but I didn’t know where I would find the first naira to buy even one. It (the goats) will bring a very good profit for me and my family.” This is the first time Sabsuwa has had an opportunity to re-start her herd.
Buluma Shettima, who leads a small community called Busuwwa and whose entire village of 60 people recently moved to the camp, called the distributions “too good to be described by words”. “The goats are helping our people to start over,” he shared.
Among women, goats are the most widely held ruminant livestock in northeastern Nigeria. Livestock in general contributes significantly to economic life in the region and are crucial to sustaining rural livelihoods in the northern areas of the country at large. The region is estimated to house more than 70 percent of the country’s sheep and goats. In addition to being a major source of meat and milk, animals like oxen, provide essential services during land preparation for farming and are a major source of transport.
In 2018, crop and livestock production may rise as the region has, in recent months, seen an increase in access to land for farming and grazing in areas no longer under the control of armed groups. However, much of the traditional areas for these livelihood activities have been designated ‘no go’ when they extend beyond military checkpoints, affecting production systems.
So far, about 1.5 million people have been returned, according to the IOM Displacement Tracking Matrix published in June 2018. These returnees, as well as persons still displaced, require immediate support to break the cycle of food assistance and resume their livelihoods.
To meet the immediate livestock-related and other needs of agriculture-based households, FAO has appealed for USD 31.5 million, of which only 17.6 million has been received so far.
Related links
Nigeria’s livestock sector ‘grows LEGS’ as FAO helps to strengthen country response to crises
FAO Nigeria Situation Report August 2018
Contact Person
Patrina Pink
Communication and Reporting Officer
FAO Maiduguri Sub-Office
Borno State, Nigeria
E-mail: [email protected]