President Mnangagwa Introduces Game-Changing Presidential Goat Scheme

Zimbabwe’s Government is gearing up to roll out the Presidential Goat Scheme, a unique initiative to bolster rural livelihoods.

The scheme was announced on Monday by the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development via its official X ()formerly Twitter) account.

Details of the Presidential Goat Scheme in Zimbabwe

The ministry announced that 35,000 bucks, popularly known as he-goats, will be distributed to each village under the Presidential Goat Scheme.

Each village will be allocated one of these male goats, each electronically tagged for monitoring purposes to ensure transparency and accountability. In addition to the bucks, every one of the country’s 1.8 million rural households will receive a she-goat as part of the program.

At the time of writing, the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development had not released the finer details of the programme such as when the Presidential Goat Scheme is expected to commence.

Social Media Reacts to Ministry of Agriculture’s Announcement

The announcement naturally drew a flurry of mixed reactions across the social media platform. A section of Zimbabweans expressed that they are waiting with batted breath for the Presidential Goat Scheme to commence. Another section questioned why the scheme is only benefitting those in the rural areas while another wrote it off. Here are some of the comments from X:

@MuronzwaLameck:

When is the distribution starting +1 ndinenge ndaane 10 mbudzi mudanga

@ChitovaD:

Government yedu haina vanhu vanofunga the basics

@manyofamanyofa:

Electronically tagged goats should do wonders in the villages! Well done.😅😅

@blissanlove:

Haaa iiiii the whole village mbudzi imwe 🤣🤣🤣

@Robbiemuti:

Vabereki torai🙏it’s a good start.

Progress of Previous Initiative

In 2022, President Emmerson Mnangagwa launched the Presidential Goat Scheme, which had already benefited approximately 300 households in Matabeleland North and South by April 2023.

During the same period, the program successfully distributed goats to 4,400 households across Zimbabwe, resulting in a 14 percent increase in production. The goat population grew from 4,259,176 in 2021 to 4,891,787 in 2022.

The Presidential Goat Scheme aimed to distribute 632,000 goats with improved genetics throughout the country. Each of the 35,000 villages was slated to receive one buck and 17 female goats for the distribution to vulnerable families in every village.