Livelihood Improvement of Poor Farmers through Goat Rearing

The present research was carried out to investigate the feeding and management practices of goat as well as income and livelihood improvement of farmers through goat rearing. For this experiment, a total of 45 respondents were randomly selected from three unions (Gazir Bhita, Kaichapur and Narail) of Haluaghat Upazila in Mymensingh district where 15 respondents from each unionwere randomly chosen. The data were collected through personal interviewing with pre-tested questionnaires. The study revealed that of the farmers were found either primary (46.7%) or below SSC (35.6%) levelof education.Majority of them were engaged in agricultural operation (57.8%) and others wereinvolved in service andbusiness. The farmers mainly depend on green grasses (33.3%) and tree leaves (31.1%) to feed their goats. Wheat bran was also given by 35.6% farmers for economic rearing of goats in the experimentalareas. The majordiseases of goatsin the studied areas were found skin disease(73.3%) and PPR (26.7%), respectively.The annual total cost of production pergoat was2154.00BDT, while gross return and net return from goatrearing per household were 4296.00BDT and 2142.00BDT, respectively. Annual food purchasing capacity changes from 50 to 55 percent. The social statusof the farmer’s family increases where educational status, employment for men, employment for women, social dignity andsocial acceptance were increased by35, 24, 58, 26 and 23% after 12 months through goat rearing in the selectedareas. The results clearly indicatethat goat rearing in Haluaghat upazila was very much profitable. Considering all these parameters, it is clearly found that the families which reared goat have the most rapid changes in terms of livelihood improvement.