THE ISSUE: Females are faced with higher levels of food insecurity as compared to males. Generally, boys are fed before girls and receive food of better quality. As a direct consequence, girls suffer more from nutrition-related illnesses.
THE GOATS: Women usually have the responsibility of raising goats. This gives them control over household income that they might not have had before. This helps to ensure that there is more equal food distribution in the household.
This income control also boosts their confidence which spills over into other areas of their lives. Suddenly, women start to demand respect and gain a voice in their household and in their communities. Also, because goats are low investment and high return, they are also ideal for women living positively with HIV.
THE ISSUE: In 2012, food insecurity is still a major global concern as almost 1 billion people are suffering from starvation, under-, and malnutrition, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has concluded that we are still far from reaching millennium development goal (MDG) number 1: to halve extreme poverty and hunger by 2015. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the number of people suffering from hunger is estimated at 239 million, and this figure could increase in the near future.
THE GOATS: Goats provide valuable meat and milk containing valuable protein and nutrients for African communities – especially for women and young children who often suffer from malnutrition.
THE ISSUE: The world has come to recognize that chronic hunger is not due to lack of food. It is due to poverty. In many countries there are abundant examples of hungry people in food surplus areas – people who lack adequate income or assets to purchase or produce enough food for themselves and their families.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, the number of people living in poverty increased from 184 million in 1985 to 216 million in 1990. It is projected to rise to 300 million by the year 2000. Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region in the world where poverty is expected to increase.
THE GOATS: Goats can help reduce poverty. Goats are often the only asset possessed by a poor rural farm family in Africa. They can be bred and passed on to other village members. In times of crop failure or family illness, goats can be sold for food or critical medicine.
If you can build up a herd of goats, you can sell them to buy oxen for ploughing or an expensive milking cow (that produces even more milk). During times of drought, selling one goat could buy enough grain to feed a family of five for two to three months.