Haitian Goat Program

More than a quarter of Haitian children suffer from chronic malnutrition and a larger percentage of adults are undernourished. Adding goat meat and milk to their diets provides the extra protein they need.

Why goats?

• Goats require 15% as much land as a cow.
• Goats are tough, hardy, and versatile feeders.
• A cross-bred goat sells for substantially more than a native Haitian goat.
• Goat manure is an excellent fertilizer for crops.
• Goats are living, transportable “banks,” providing milk, meat and money.

Global Health Action began the Haitian Goat Program in Darbonne, Haiti in 1985 and helped expand to the Island of La Gonave and elsewhere beginning in 2002.

• Every month, a two-day training teaches 20 subsistence farmers the basics of goat husbandry and care.
• Each graduating farmer receives a pregnant doe that has been crossed with one of the project’s purebred goats. The resulting cross-bred goat kids – usually twins or triplets – are larger, heartier and more valuable.
• Follow-up visits and vet care are provided for a year at no cost, and graduates may attend continuing education workshops
• The farmers primarily use their goats as sources of dietary protein (meat and dairy) and income, with the extra money enabling them to purchase more nutritious foods to feed their families, buy necessary medicines, send their children to school, and repair their homes.
• As they are able, farmers return a goat back to the Program to help another family.
• All project staff members are Haitian.
• Four thousand Haitian families have benefited in Darbonne, La Gonave, Gonaives, and elsewhere.

The cost per farmer for the training, a pregnant goat, and follow-up veterinary care and support for a year is only $180, and the impact is enormous. Read a few of their stories here.

Franck Toussaint, Senior Coordinator, Haitian Goat Program.