Adjunct Professor Doug Gray

The role of goats in helping developing world farmers out of poverty was on the table in a tightly focused workshop hosted by UNE this week.

Led off by Adjunct Professor Doug Gray of the Institute for Rural Futures, a 30-year veteran of agricultural research and extension in developing countries, the two-day event brought together ACIAR-supported scientists working on projects in Pakistan, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and the Pacific.

Speakers reviewed past projects funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), bringing into focus UNE’s decades-long contribution to the prosperity of smallholder farmers across Asia and the Pacific.

The latter part of the workshop was spent planning for ACIAR’s forthcoming investment in goat systems.

Small livestock enterprises offer a pathway out of poverty for smallholders, and goats are hardy, flexible animals. On the other hand, they can wreak havoc on other farming enterprises if not properly managed – issues that extension work needs to take into account.