News from April 2006

275 Dairy Goats fly from Belfast International Airport to Tanzania, East Africa.

Published: 27 April 2006

A very special aircraft landed at Belfast International Airport on Monday 24th April. The giant DC10 aircraft picked up a very special cargo indeed. 275 dairy goats got on board to fly south to Tanzania where 275 expectant families were anxiously awaiting.

This is the first airlift of its kind from Northern Ireland.  Bothar (pronounced beau- her) is the international aid agency which specialises in the use of livestock in development aid.  Established 15 years ago this Irish international agency has grown to the point where it now has projects in 25 developing countries working with 11 different species of animal. 

The system that Bothar uses is straight forward, simple and practical.  A poor family is trained how to look after a dairy cow or a dairy goat or a breeding sow or a flock of laying hens or any of the other animal species.  Once the family is trained and once they have their fodder prepared and their housing facilities built they must undergo an oral examination together with an evaluation of their facilities.

Once they have passed all stages Bothar will then give them an animal that is appropriate to their climate, culture and circumstances.  Bothar provides a full veterinary back up service and an advisory service, on a declining basis in the initial years.  After this, communities are encouraged to develop their own resources through their micro farming enterprises. Through local group effort, Cooperatives  are established so that they may carry on to build their own futures for themselves and their families.

In Northern Ireland today not many people would thank you for the present of a dairy goat.  Goats are very playful animals and are always getting up to mischief.  However in developing countries a goat can be a saviour for an entire family.  Irish goats will produce between 3 - 5 litres of good quality milk per day. Local cows in Tanzania produce approximately 1 litre per day. 

Once the family receive their dairy goat and it kids for the first time the family will have an ongoing supply of nutritious milk for home consumption and for sale or barter locally.  Under the Bothar programme the family is required to pass on the first female offspring born to their goat to another poor family who have been trained and prepared in exactly the same way.  In time the second family must do the same and so on.  In the passage of time one good dairy goat from Northern Ireland can, through her offspring, give many destitute families an opportunity to do it for themselves.

For further information log on to www.bothar.org