Current status of goat production in Laos

Abstract

A baseline survey was conducted to investigate the current status of goat production in Laos. Data were collected from secondry sources, rapid rural appraisal (RRA), household interviews and direct measurements on 126 herds of goats in 4 provinces representative of the North, the Center, and
the South. Results showed that goat raising was a long last traditional practice with a number of advantages in natural ranging conditions and market. However, goat production systems were still extensive, exploiting natural feed resources with small herds of indigenous goats, which have small sizes and low growth rates. The present paper provides an overview of the current goat production systems in Laos as a background for orientation of goat production development in the country.