Overview
This project describes a strategy for an extended partnership between Laos, Vietnam and Australia for research on goat production and marketing.
Scoping of previous research and development achievements and assessment of current research on goat systems was undertaken through a search and review of published and ‘grey’ literature and by the convening of a workshop to review current and past ACIAR investments in goats in Asia. A significant output of that workshop was a plan for a production and marketing survey in Laos and Vietnam and agreement among four ongoing ACIAR projects in Laos, Myanmar, the Pacific and Pakistan to share information and use similar protocols for data collection and analysis.
Initial field surveys on goat production and marketing were undertaken in southern and northern Laos by an experienced team led by NAFRI. All farmers shared the same constraints of high mortality of young and mature goats with the figures ranging from 10% to 80%, as reported during interviews. Disease signs such as diarrhoea (potentially parasitic) bloat and mouth lesions (presumably Orf) were common. Better definition of the extent and causes of mortality and their control was identified as an important research questions.
