Household demographics
From the seven randomly selected wards of Mhondoro Ngezi District, a total of 100 respondents participated in the survey. The male respondents constituted 69% of the sample. The average age of the respondents was 49 years, and the majority (54%) were the older generation above the age of 51 years. Proportion of respondents below 30 years of age constituted only 3% while those above 71 years were 4% (Figure 2). Almost all the respondents (90%) owned some land, of which 86% had title deeds. Respondents with larger farm sizes (allocated in hectares) were 73% whilst 27% had smaller pieces of land in the order of acres. About (40%) of the respondents had 10-20 years goat rearing experience and only 1% had above 51 years of experience. Respondents had attained primary (15%), secondary (58%) and tertiary (5%) level as their highest level of education. Majority (84%) of the respondents relied on farming as their main source of income.
Livestock species kept by farmers
Different types of livestock were owned by respondents including goats, sheep, cattle, pigs, donkeys, chickens and guinea fowl. The most common livestock kept were the indigenous chickens (86%) and the highest ranked species was cattle followed by goats, poultry, sheep and other low ranked species such as guinea fowl. A bulk of the respondents (97%) sold some of their livestock to buffer family cash needs.
General goat management
Goat breeds kept by the households were Mashona (71%), Boer, and their crosses (11%), and Matabele goat (3%). The most commonly used (99%) rearing system was the semi-extensive system. Labour was usually provided by the family, with the mother and children being the major goat herders and, in some cases, the household had a dedicated employee to look after the flock. The goats were usually released for grazing around midday and they returned late afternoon. All the respondents provided goat housing at night and the structures varied in terms of material used. Most farmers (84%) admitted that, with good goat management techniques, goat production would be very beneficial, as a significant source of income.
Goat parasites and disease challenges
Goat disease was mentioned as a major (90%) challenge affecting the goat keepers as shown in Table 1, with diarrhoea being the most prevalent disease (17%). Amongst the causative agents, parasites (52%) and pathogenic microorganism (29%) were the most mentioned in this study. Common internal and external parasites in the study area are as shown in Table 2. The respondents mentioned a number of factors that led to the infestation of these parasites in their area, which included poor access to veterinary drugs (37%), season (44%), age and breed of goat (7%) and, late diagnosis (3%) amongst others. Weaner goats were the most affected (35%) by both internal and external parasites followed by kids within the pre-weaning phase (24%). The goat breed most affected was Mashona (46%). A slightly smaller proportion (30%) stated that all breeds were equally affected by these parasites. Most (99%) of the respondents practised both external and internal parasite control, and the frequency of control varied with season. For the control of external parasites, they reported a higher frequency (fortnightly- 54%) and (bi-monthly- 27%) for the summer season. For the control of internal parasites, they reported a higher frequency (monthly- 10%) and (bi-monthly- 73%) for the summer season. Amongst the respondents, 87% used both conventional remedies and medicinal plants in controlling internal parasites, conventional remedies (4%), medicinal plants (6%) and non-plant material (3%). To control external parasites, 82% used commercial remedies, 4% used medicinal plants and 11% used both commercial and medicinal plants. Almost half (51%) of the respondents got extension support. Amongst them 33% got extension support from the extension officers and 17% from veterinary officers.
Use of medicinal plants in goat parasite control
The respondents reported the use of medicinal plants and non-plant materials as alternative means of parasite control affecting goats. The plant species, plant part used, methods of preparation, plant availability and safety precautions when handling the medicinal plants are shown in Table 3. The non-plant materials are presented in Table 4. Amongst the plants that were mentioned, 90% were specific to internal parasite control. Respondents’ perceptions on the effectiveness of these plants are shown in Figure 3. Most respondents (97%), reported combined usage of commercial remedies and medicinal plants in the control of external and internal parasites.
Favourable environments, where most of the medicinal plants could be found were the forests (40%), mountains (28%), anthills (8%) and river banks (2%). Most of the plants were crushed and immersed in water, or juice was extracted whilst a smaller proportion were crushed and used in powder form or incorporated into feed. Plant availability status recorded was 99% implying that the plants were always available throughout the year. Only 2% of the plants used were reported to have side effects while 3% were toxic and could pose potential hazards to humans if not properly handled. Majority of the respondents got their knowledge from the elderly (36%), grandparents (33%), and other farmers (21%), and about 2% reported to have a spiritual calling revealing medicinal plants to them. There were no specific medicinal plants for goats only and the plants were used on all livestock species including cattle, sheep, poultry and many others. The respondents observed no cultural practices before, during or after collection and preparation of medicinal plants. The most mentioned medicinal plants were Wing pod (Murumanyama) (47.6%), Broad-leaved coral-tree (Mutiti) (28.6%), Caustic vine (Runyokadombo) (28.6%), Sow thistle (Rimiremombe) (26.2%), Aloe Vera (Gavakava) (23.8%) and Mucherechesa (21.4%) out of 42 plants that were mentioned all together.