Goat Farming in the Arganeraie of Agadir in Morocco: Livestock System and Production Parameters

In order to characterize goat farming of the arganeraie in the province of Agadir in Morocco. A structured questionnaire survey and individual monitoring of farm animals were conducted in 35 randomly selected goat farmers in 9 villages of Amskroud commune in Agadir province. The results obtained show that the livestock system is extensive, traditional and oriented exclusively for the production of meat. The goat herd is heterogeneous and composed mainly of local breeds, with the dominance of the Atlas (Black) and Barcha breeds which represent approximately 80% of all goats. The prolificacy rate is 108.25%, the true fertility rate is 78.24%, while the apparent fertility is 69.83%. The mode of reproduction is free without the control of farmers and consanguinity is widespread. For 45.72% of farmers, the age at first kidding is approximately 12 months, while for 37.14% it is less than 12 months and for 8.57% it is between 14 and 24 months. The kidding are spread throughout the year and the number of calving per goat per year is 1 for 71.43% of farmers, while it is 1.5 for 28.57%. The interval between successive kidding is very variable. For 34.29% of farmers the kidding interval is greater than 12 months, 31.43% have an interval less than 8 months and 28.57% have an interval between 8 months and 12 months. Abortions are found among the 65.71% of farmers surveyed with an abortion rate of 28.42%. The overall mortality rate is high with a youth mortality rate <1year is 3.4% and that of youth> 1year is 9.36%. There is a virtual absence of food supplementation, health care and adequate infrastructure. Goat farming in the region faces several constraints (socio-economic, food, health, environmental and livestock management) that reduce its productivity and limit its development.