Research and Training Strategies for Goat Production Systems in ...

of the local ecological and economic environment, their perceptions of different farming
practices (e.g. dairy farming) and their beliefs and value systems with respect to certain diets
(e.g. goat milk).
Screening of technological interventions and identification of leverage points
All the technical problems and technically weak practices identified in the diagnostic phase
are used to make an estimate of the losses in production that might result from maintaining
the system as it is. It is also important to diagnose the economic and technical causes of
these poor practices, as this exercise will help in identifying new technologies. The poor
practices might be related to the local natural environment, the deliberate management of
local conditions by the farmers to satisfy family priorities and/or resource constraints, which
may require technical compromises. Once the strengths and weaknesses of the system have
been documented, it is advisable that a wide range of possible improved technical practices
for more efficient production be identified. The resulting inventory of improved materials
(goats) and practices (management) should be screened on a technical and economic basis
and, if possible, their relationships assessed. The packages are now ready for testing under
various farming conditions.
On-farm experimentation
The on-farm research team designs, implements and evaluates on-farm experimental
programmes. The type of experiment is determined by the degree of confidence the technical
staff has that the relationships identified previously are applicable on local farms and that the
climate, soil and farmers managerial practices may modify these relationships. If there is a
high degree of confidence, then verification (demonstration) experiments are implemented
which should involve comparing improved technologies with current farmer technologies.
Extensve participation of farmers and extension workers is necessary during this verification
stage.
The improved materials and practices should be selected on the basis of potential
contribution to the system, ease with which farmers can assimilate them and the amount of
research effort needed to implement them. Such selected technologies should also take into
account the scope of resources (land, labour, technical know how, capital, etc.) available on
the farm. These technologies are ranked and the highest ranked intervention is given priority.
Some interventions that can be moved directly into the verification phase of the trial should
be included in the formal experimentation phase in order to offer local farmers immediate
results at the same time.
Evaluation of these experiments should be carried out jointly with the farmers and extension
workers. However, the final interpretation of results is the responsibility of the research
team. This should be done on the basis of a balance of statistical and economic analyses
and farmers assessments of the experiments and their outcomes.
Dissemination of technologies
The farming systems approach is designed to allow for continual interaction between
farmers, extension officers and researchers. This interaction should allow for a consensus on
when an improved technology is ready for dissemination. This will occur when the host
farmers begin to use the experimental techniques on their own animals and crops of their
own initiative and the extension staff have an intimate knowledge of the managerial
implications of new techniques and are able to lay out demonstrations on farmers fields and
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