Goat farming initiative promoted by Tata Steel Foundation helps 950 households

Keonjhar, Dec 11: Since 2018, Tata Steel Foundation in association with Animal Husbandry Department of Joda has been promoting commercial goat farming among the community residing in villages in the Keonjhar district of Odisha. This initiative has benefitted over 950 households by providing them a steady source of income. In 2018, while doing a survey for identifying sustainable livelihood programmes for locals residing in Deojhar and Anseikela gram panchayats, Tata Steel Foundation realised the potential benefits goat farming had, given the natural abundance of fodder in the surrounding areas. In the same year, over 100 farmers were mobilised and trained to take up goat farming. Very soon, goat farming became the most viable option for earning a livelihood, especially for farmers who had little to no money or land. By the end of 2019, over 584 households were formally inducted in goat farming. Farmers from Thakurani, Mahdevnasa, Kuldum, Sialjoda, Jamukundia, Kolhahundula, Panchananpur and Govardhanpur have been generating steady income through goat farming. “Goat farming has changed my life completely. I am grateful towards Tata Steel for helping me and others from my village with goat farming.”, says Harihar Barik of Thakurani village who earned more than Rs. 91, 000 in one year alone through this initiative. Even though a lucrative option, goat farming came with its own set of challenges like diseases infecting goats leading to high mortality rate. To counter this, Tata Steel Foundation has also been running several vaccination drives in these villages. Vaccines such as PPR (Peste Des Petits Ruminants), FMD (Foot and Mouth Disease) and Goat Pox have been provided to the farmers free of cost to ensure good health of goats. So far, 6055 goats have been vaccinated. This initiative of goat farming was designed as a 3-year long project and has seen a lot of traction among farmers so far. With more farmers showing interest in taking up goat farming each year, the number of households benefitting through this sustainable livelihood initiative is only set to rise.