Two weeks ago, I accompanied a friend to Mbudzi Roundabout in Harare in order to buy a goat. The place is named after goat sales but of late has more other commercial activities than goat sales. More than 20 buses leave the place headed for Beitbridge every evening. A lot of vendors are also found at the place which recently welcomed a new shopping mall.
We arrived at the centre and witnessed 3 sellers of goats and they had an average 20-50 goats roaming freely at the place. As soon as we indicated that we indicated that we were looking for goats, 2 guys came to assist and provided us with this informatio;
- Demand for goats is very high with monthly average sales of 50.
- Prices range from US$20-$40 per goat.
- Supplies from rural areas low as farmers resist the local currency.
- There is an unofficial abattoir where clients can buy goats with the goats slaughtered and prepared for transport. This activity costs RTGS$15-20.
- During the 30 minutes we were there, we witnessed 5 goats being purchased.
We did not have a scale to weight the biggest goat that we purchased for US$35 but we estimated its weight to be between 15-20 kilograms…not bad in an economy where beef is costing around RTGS$15 per kg.
Opportunities
The way goats are marketed has room for improvement. The roadside method at Mbudzi or Tynwald could be improved by introducing proper selling facilities like the Koala Abattoirs along Seke Road. There is also room for ‘goat meat on wheels’ delivering goat meat to clients across the city.
The full demand for goat meat in the city is an unknown figure and so we urge our members to carry out own researches and plug in opportunities gaps.
Do search for one of our articles on hybrid goat farming on this site.
