IN a recent newspaper report, President Emmerson Mnangagwa made some insightful remarks about the potential of goat farming to building a new, shared and uplifting economy in Zimbabwe. By masimba Biriwasha Goat farming has long been detested, ignored and underrated despite its capacity to be a multi-billion-dollar industry in Zimbabwe. It is indeed the country’s undiscovered gold mine. While commissioning the Bindura University of Science Education (BUSE) Goat Genetics and Artificial Insemination Centre, Mnangagwa was quoted as saying: “The goat breeding project and attendant value addition interventions will go a long way towards ensuring broad-based empowerment, wealth creation and lifting millions out of poverty within our society. As such, the project must be deployed towards the realisation of robust and vibrant rural industry systems supported by livestock production and related development of modern animal handling facilities.” The Goat Genetics and Artificial Insemination Centre is indeed a welcome development. Getting a grip on genetics is a key ingredient in sustainable and successful goat farming. Of all the things that can kill a goat enterprise is buying wrong genetics. That’s why it’s important to get the right genetics at the beginning. We still have a lot to learn about our local breeds. Our local breeds have not been subjected to adequate scientific scrutiny. But a lot of work still has to be done to unlock the potential and promise of goat farming that can uplift millions of our people from poverty. With a national goat herd of approximately four million, Zimbabwe is barely on the map of goat-producing countries. The good news though is that we are richly blessed with abundant land and favourable climatic conditions that can be leveraged to boost our national herd to 25 million by year 2025, if we can only take care of some basics. Most farmers have a long-enduring love and hate relationship with goats. They are seen as troublesome animals that are guaranteed to bring problems including invading into neighbours’ fields. Very little attention is given to goats which explains the 65% pre-weaning mortality rate. Goats live in unbearable conditions that compromise their health with pneumonia being a leading killer. In fact, exposure to rain, cold, starvation, diseases, unclean environments, internal parasites and predation are among the factors that cause the high mortality rate. Middlemen and the farmers only regard goats as an object for transaction. Farmers seem to only care for their goats when they exchange them for money. Middlemen literally make a killing out of goats in urban markets. None of these players have goats at heart. No one is concerned about fixing the gaps in the supply chain that will enable bringing goats to the market in a fairer and transparent manner. At the same time, none of these players have ventured further to unlock the full value and multiple functions of a goat. There is also currently an ongoing frenzy about mixing local goat breed with foreign breeds such as Boer, Red