Sustainable goat production—Some global perspectives

The multi-dimensional nature of ‘sustainability’ including survival, resilience and efficiency is described as are the environmental, economic and social factors that underpin sustainability. Some of the current global trends and forces of change that impinge on goat production in the 21st century are also considered. The characteristics of some of the main goat systems and the people who keep them are described and the impact of some global trends (climate change, rising prices of food and fuel, environmental degradation, genetic erosion, dietary and lifestyle changes, social inequality and global insecurity) on the sustainability of goat production are considered. A ‘sustainability scorecard’ is developed as a tool to assess the ability of goat production systems to survive current trends and future shocks. Some case studies are presented from Africa, Afghanistan and the UK, including the pastoral systems of East Africa, emerging smallholder dairy systems in Africa, cashmere goat production in Afghanistan and a highly intensive niche dairy enterprise in the UK. The sustainability scorecard is applied to assess each system. Finally, conclusions are drawn about how to make goat systems more sustainable and resilient to the challenges they currently face and how goat keepers need to constantly adapt to changing circumstances in order to survive.