Biosecurity and animal husbandry in goat herds in Zambia and Sweden : a comparative qualitative interview study

Sammanfattning: In Zambia, goats have an as important role for the wellbeing of humans as humans have for the goats they care for. Infectious diseases are common and can have devastating effects for the animals and thereby their owners and all others that benefit from these goats. Improved animal husbandry and basic infection control measures could therefore be key for farmers of both small and large herds and help maintain and improve animal health and welfare. Sweden is a rich country, in both an economical aspect as well as in educational level. The goat industry is small, most goat farmers are smallholder farmers and only a few farms of larger scales exist in the country. There are many laws that regulate how one should take care of one’s animals and there are many seminars and lectures that farmers can attend to increase their knowledge and further improve their animal husbandry and thereby improve the productivity of their animals. Based on the literature, quarantine routines for new or sick animals, stable hygiene, feed hygiene and parasite control are important areas to protect one’s herd from infections. Maintaining a good general health in the herd by providing a correct diet, clean drinking water in sufficient amounts, shelter from the weathers and a stress-free environment are other important factors. The aim of this study was to describe the animal husbandry in Zambia and Sweden; what is alike and what differs? How do farmers know what to do and how to manage their goats? Are there any lessons that can be learned and implemented in either country? Answers to these questions were sought by conducting semi-structured interviews with goat farmers from both countries. Ten interviews with Zambian goat owners with farm size ranging between 7 and 35 goats, and five interviews with Swedish goat owners with between 8 and 64 animals took place over Zoom, Microsoft Teams and WhatsApp during October and November 2021. The interviews were recorded and then transcribed in English, the same day or shortly after. Themes in the answers were sought within these transcriptions. The interviews indicated that the health situation of goats is better in Sweden, and it was less common for animals to die of infections than in Zambia. The general biosecurity appears higher than compared to Zambian goat farms, despite Zambian farmers having received goat specific training in higher extent than the Swedish farmers. The cause for the difference in biosecurity measures implemented is not clear, but the level of knowledge or difference in available funds and means might be conceivable reasons. A similarity in the goat husbandry, however, is that farmers in both countries have apparent problems costs for veterinary care. In Sweden, the lack of goat specific knowledge amongst veterinarians was another factor for the reluctancy of contacting veterinarians and several farmers preferred conducting their own research, mainly by reading information online, when their goats fall ill.