Zeitschrift für Agrarwissenschaft und Lebensmittelforschung
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Understanding Profitability of Small Stock Animals for Rural Development

F.Mazamabara, E Zivenge, Never Mafuse

The study was carried out to explore profitability of smallholder goat production Zimbabwe. This was guided by key objective of estimating revenue earned and costs incurred in goat production. Structured questionnaires together with personal interviews were employed for data collection. Two out of three wards in Makakabule were purposively selected. Two goat producing villages were randomly selected and then 150 respondents were purposively selected with respect to their willingness to cooperate. Gross Margin analysis indicated that smallholder goat production was a profitable enterprise in the study area since farmers were able to cover all costs with revenue earned. Every US$1 invested in goat enterprise returned US$0.56. The government was recommended to organise formal goat markets, invest in road networks and improve provision of extension services. Goat farmers should adopt modern agricultural information platforms and increase their scale of production with improved breeds to earn higher profits.