The Importance of Cattle and Goat Farming

1Economic importance: food, money and jobs

• Milk to drink and to sell at milk collection centres. Milk and meat give protein and calcium, which help children grow strong and fight malnutrition.
• Meat for the family and for sale.
• Hides and skins for leather: shoes, bags, belts and traditional drums.
• Manure, which makes the soil fertile so crops grow better.
• Biogas. Dung can be put into a biogas digester to make gas for cooking. That means less firewood, fewer trees cut down and less kitchen smoke.
• Income and savings. A goat can be sold to pay school fees or health insurance. Goats are cheaper than cows, often have twins and multiply fast, so people call a goat "a small savings bank".
• Jobs for vets, milk collectors, butchers, feed sellers, leather workers and traders.

2Social and cultural importance

• Friendship and trust. In Rwandan culture, giving someone a cow is one of the greatest signs of friendship and respect.
• Marriage. Cows have long been part of the bride wealth (inkwano) given when a couple marries.
• Culture and art. The Inyambo are praised in songs, poems and dances, and cows are shown in Rwandan art.
• Unity. Sharing milk with neighbours and passing on calves builds strong communities.

3Girinka: one cow per poor family

Girinka began in 2006. A family in need receives a cow, and by 2018 the programme had given out more than 340,000 cows. The family must build a good shed and care for the cow well. When the cow has her first female calf, the family gives that calf to another family in need, so the gift keeps spreading through the community.

4With animals come responsibilities

Keeping animals means feeding them well, keeping them healthy and clean, treating them kindly, stopping them from eating neighbours' crops, and preventing diseases that can spread to people.

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