Benefits, concerns and prospects of using goat manure in sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Livestock production has undergone an industrial revolution over the past few decades. This has resulted in the enormous generation of livestock manure, particularly in agro-pastoral systems. Agricultural productivity in these systems largely depends on livestock manure. However, some of these communities are struggling with goat manure disposal. In addition, livestock manure requires proper treatment before application to agricultural land, because it contains toxic heavy metals and pathogenic microorganisms. The review aimed to demonstrate that poor manure management has environmental consequences; thus, interventions that will promote local community livelihood benefits from animal wastes are germane. In many other communities in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), horticulture or crop production is minimal, due to erratic rainfall hence, most of the manure lies idle in abandoned kraal pens or is heaped outside the pens with no designed plan. Manure should be viewed as a resource, rather than a waste product. The environmental consequences associated with such manure management are not known and should be probed further. Deliberate efforts to explore the land and environmental risks associated with the non-use of livestock manure are germane to promoting environmental stewardship. The use of manure as feedstock for anaerobic digesters offers the greatest potential for sustainable management in SSA.