Goat breeding project begins in Mauke

Six of the luckiest billy goats on the planet were flown to Mauke on Tuesday.
Once on the island, their job description is fairly straightforward: entertain the ladies.
The sextet of Boer goats is the main component in a two-year breeding programme developed by former Manukau City (NZ) councillor Hugh Graham, who is now applying his horticultural expertise to Mauke.
“The idea of breeding goats here in the Cook Islands, especially in Mauke, was born about five years ago,” Graham said, explaining that his research showed the Cook Islands importing between seven and 10 tonnes of goat meat a year from New Zealand.
Pondering why Cook Islanders aren’t producing their own goats for meat, he came up with the idea of the breeding programme.
“This is the result,” he said, indicating the animals carefully maintaining a healthy distance between themselves and members of the local media.
Boer goats, originally from South Africa, are known for being one of the meatier breeds. Fortunately for Graham’s venture, they are also extremely fertile.
“The idea is to cross the Boer goat with the local Anglo-Nubian goats,” said Graham. “The reason for that is the Anglo-Nubian goat is a milking goat so, obviously, the offspring will benefit from the extra milk quantity from these Nubian goats, but will also be a larger-framed goat in terms of these Boer goats.”
Applying through the Business Trade Investment Board, Graham scored project funds to the tune of $20,000 via the Outer Island Development Grant Fund. Further funds, courtesy of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, will arrive in February. That money will help pay for fencing so the goats don’t become part of Mauke’s wandering-stock problem.
Graham said he is concentrating on breeding for meat production for now, and will think about secondary product markets – goat milk, for instance – at a later date.
“Let’s build up our breeding stock first over the two-year programme and then, once that is in place, we can say to the likes of Manea Foods, CITC, Prime Foods, we can provide 20 carcasses every flight,” he said. “The idea is that it’s not just a short-term fix, it’s a long-term supply of goat meat to the local market.”
The idea, he said, is to make imported goat meat redundant.
“I’m an advocate for import substitution,” he said. “But we’ve got to make sure we’re competitive. There are three things that have been identified: the price of the meat, the quality of the meat and consistency to the market. So when they ask for a hundred kilos every week, we can provide a hundred kilos every week.”
Sometime in mid-2011, the idea of establishing an abattoir in Mauke will be explored further, to take advantage of the skills local workers have sharpened during seasonal work in New Zealand. Graham said having the facility on Mauke will also help combat depopulation.
“We can offer jobs outside of Government to our local Maukians so that they stay on the island,” he said.
Once word of the nutritional value of goat meat spreads, and people realize you can do more with it than throw it into a pot of curry – Graham insists he has more than 30 recipes – he predicts a future where other islands in the chain start their own breeding programmes.
For the time being, Graham will concentrate on convincing the naysayers on Mauke that he is onto a good thing.
“It’s really hard to share a vision with our people because a lot of people can’t see long-term,” he said. “But I’m hoping with the goats’ arrival in Mauke, that people will eventually come out of their misunderstanding of the goats. Obviously, there will always be those who object but, hey, let’s give it a go.”
In the unlikely event the breeding programme isn’t successful, Graham has a simple solution.
“We eat the goats,” he said.

By John Ireland

Herald Issue 463 10 June
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