Staff Reporter
Windhoek
Communal farmers are showing a huge interest in managing and increasing their goat farming businesses. This is after publication of an article on goat farmers pleading for a unified marketing system to uplift the current status of goat meat and goat products.
Small scale farmers in rural areas are now interested in a strong goat breeders market in Namibia, saying they would like to make the jump and become part of the export marketing system which shows promises of good mark-ups and solid income for them and their families. They also applaud the diversity of goat farming and the many uses of goat products.
Goats produce about three percent of the world’s total annual milk supply. Some goats are bred specifically for milk. Unprocessed goat milk has small, well-emulsified fat globules, which means the cream remains suspended in the milk instead of rising to the top, as in unprocessed cow milk.
Therefore, it does not need to be homogenised. Indeed, if goat milk is to be used to make cheese, homogenisation is not recommended, as this changes the structure of the milk, affecting the culture’s ability to coagulate the milk and the final quality and yield of cheese.
Goat milk is commonly processed into cheese, butter, ice cream, yogurt, cajeta and other products. Goat cheese is known as fromage de chèvre (“goat cheese”) in France. Some varieties include Rocamadour and Montrachet. Goat butter is white because goats produce milk with the yellow beta-carotene converted to a colourless form of vitamin A. The skin of goats is a valuable by product of goat farming. Up until 1849 all Rolls of Parliament were written upon parchment usually made from goatskin. Another popular use is for drum skins. Parchment is prepared by liming (in a solution of quick lime) to loosen the hair follicles. After several days in this bath, the hair can then be scraped off and the under surface of the skin scraped clean. After that, the finished skins are sewn into a wooden frame to dry and shrink.
Goat meat is savory and less sweet than beef but slightly sweeter than lamb. It can be prepared in a variety of ways, such as being stewed, curried, baked, grilled, barbecued, minced, canned, fried or made into sausage.
In Africa, the Chaga people of Tanzania, a ceremonial goat (locally called Ndafu) would be gutted and roasted as whole as part of tradition that spans hundreds of years. The ceremonial goat is the preferred replacement to the wedding cake used in many weddings around the world.
Goat has a reputation for having a strong, gamey flavor but the taste can also be mild, depending on how it is raised and prepared. Despite being classified as red meat, goat is leaner and contains less cholesterol, fat and protein than both lamb and beef, and less energy than beef or chicken. Therefore, it requires low-heat, slow cooking to preserve tenderness and moisture.
Goats consume less forage than beef cattle. An acre of pasture can sustain 10 goats or more, compared to two steers. Goat meat production is growing rapidly, but is still less than 4 percent of total meat production.