Tanzania is driving up its goat export market to record levels by harnessing its abundant underused land, overflowing water sources and introducing improved Galla and Boer goat breeds from Kenya through the porous Namanga border.
According to the country’s Minister of Livestock and Fisheries Abdallah Ulega meat exports jumped from 1,774.3 tonnes in 2022 to 14,701.2 tonnes in 2023. In 2021-2022, the country’s goat export market grew by 159 per cent to $64.9M. This made it the fastest-growing meat exporter in Africa and the fifth fastest-growing exporter worldwide.
FAO lists Tanzania as having 44 million hectares of arable land with 13.5 million hectares of this being highly suited to livestock and crop farming with no need for irrigation. This makes it the fifth most arable country in Africa, while it also has the second largest population of livestock on the continent. The country is also considered to be water-abundant by the USAID. Comparatively, only 5,800,000 hectares of Kenya’s land can be easily farmed with the majority of areas where goats are reared considered water scarce. This insurmountable geographical advantage gives Tanzania a clear production advantage over its neighbours.
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Despite this, Kenya exported $24.4M more of goat meat than Tanzania in 2022. This is thanks to having been among the early adopters in Africa in investing in fast-maturing goat breeds that are preferred by the main Middle East goat export market. Livestock trade between the two countries has however seen Tanzania farmers ship in (legally and illegally) these goat breeds which are usually Galla and Boer goats. Over the years, Kenya’s largest market for live goats has been Tanzania. According to the World Bank, Tanzania took in 16,645 goats worth $402,130 in 2023.
“We have a big fertile country with more than adequate water and ideal weather to produce goats for a fraction of the price it costs many Kenyan farmers. Myself I have more than adequate grazing land and only supplement my goats with a bit of maize bran. The only thing we have lacked is good goat breeds,” explained Laban Sogomo
This is evident in the price of beef costing $4.73 in Kenya compared to $3.73 in Tanzania.
The goat farmer who keeps 250 galla goats on 70 acres of land in Tanga ships in hundreds of the breed from Kenya through Namanga every month with the help of Maasai herders owing to Galla’s booming demand among commercial goat farmers in Tanzania.
According to Neema Livestock Slaughtering & Investment Ltd– Kenya’s largest goat meat exporter– growing competition from cheaper sources of goat meat such as Tanzania has seen Kenya lose lucrative markets. Bahrain, for example, has gone from being a main export destination for Kenyan meat to now almost entirely being supplied with goat meat from Tanzania and Ethiopia.
“Tanzania’s currency is also much weaker than both the US dollar and the Kenyan shilling with a trader being able to buy a live goat from the country for as little as Sh4,000 and sell it a day later for Sh1,000 more,” explained Salat Bonaya– the Assistant Manager at Neema.
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Currently, the export market is buying a kilogram of goat meat for Sh610-620 which is considered too low by Kenyan livestock keepers who are holding and fattening their goats.
These prices are however still competitive for farmers in countries with low production margins such as Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Brazil.