CEDARS program -
Improvement of Goat Breeding project

Local Partners

Centre International Caprin (CIC)
L'Université Saint Esprit Kaslik (USEK)
Lebanese University (LU)
Lebanese Agronomy Research Institute (LARI)

Beneficiaries

Breeders in the region
Agricultural cooperatives
Students of agriculture

Description

The main goal is to implement a profitable, sustainable, and independent goat breeding enterprise. Goat breeding targets two different goals: increasing the number of goats to match demand, and preserving the environment against the damage caused by grazing through the adoption of a diet based exclusively on forage.

The pilot goat farm is located within CAN's pilot farm "Granja". In addition to local and Damascus goats, 142 Alpine and Saanen goats were imported from Europe in 2003 and 2004 to introduce new and more productive breeds. As the population of imported goats increased through intensive breeding, goats were sold to farmers, which improved the Lebanese goat herd.

Activities span the goat breeding sector - from raising the goats, to the creation of a Lebanese Goat Stockbreeders' Association, to commercialization of the milk products.

Profitable intensive breeding is practiced with the introduced breeds and close technical and sanitary monitoring. The pilot farm has been quite a success; the kids have a much lower mortality rate (10%) than the national average (50%-70%). Farmers regularly visit the pilot farm to learn the new techniques in goat breeding.

Goat milk is processed into the following milk products and sold on the market: Labneh, Laban, Baladi, Darfiyeh, St. Maure and others .

Short-term Objectives

Introduction of new breeds with a higher milk yield
Training of farmers in new feeding techniques
Semi-intensive milk production (5-10 goats/breeder)
Establishment of regular collection of milk
Processing and commercialization of milk

Mid-term Objectives

Creation of a higher milk-yielding herd of goats in North Lebanon
Creation of a cooperative and association of breeders capable of managing all relationships and projects

Long-term Objectives

Promotion of socio-economic development in rural areas by increasing the revenue of small and medium-sized stockbreeders through profitable goat breeding.