A study was conducted to document the socio-economic aspects of goat production in Teso region, Uganda. Data was collected by using a questionnaire administered to 114 purposively selected goat owners. Majority (87%) of de fecto household heads were male. About 41.2% of the farmers were aged ≥51 years. The average number of goats per household was 9.2 (range 3-31). Most farmers (63.2%) owned ≤5 acres of land. Indigenous goats were mainly acquired by buying (85%) while exotic goats and their crosses were acquired from government programs (34%). Goats have a number of roles, though mainly kept as a source of cash income (98.2%), followed by socio-cultural values (69.3%). A large percentage of farmers (67%) earned ≤US $40 p.a from goat production. The biggest problem in marketing of goats was high taxation. Majority of goat owners were men (84.86%) but a few cases (average 15.14%) of women that owned goats independently were also reported. Women and children participated less in decision making, although they were responsible for many goat production related activities. In conclusion, goat production can play an important role in improving rural livelihoods. Commercialisation, especially targeting women and youths would be desirable for improved profitability of smallholder production systems.

appropriate breeding and production technologies for improving production and productivity of various cattle breeds in Uganda.The overall objective of the study was to evaluate and document the performance of existing breeds of cattle in the south western agro-ecological zone (SWAEZ) for improved livestock productivity. The specific objectives include: (i) to evaluate the growth performance of existing cattle breed under on-station and on-farm conditions.The study is meant to generate up to-date and accurate information on performance of selected cattle populations in the SWAEZ in terms of their growth, maturity and production parameters. This would help in packaging of appropriate information on better management practices to guide farmers in partnership with National Agriculture Advisory Services (NAADS) and extension workers as conduits for effective uptake pathways for technology adoption.

This study assessed the growth of Sahiwal x Zebu crossbreds under low input production conditions in