Cheetah Conservation Fund to Host Goat Farming Seminar on 7 August

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Cheetah Conservation Fund to Host Goat Farming Seminar on 7 August

OTJIWARONGO, Namibia (25 July 2018) – Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) will be hosting a goat farming seminar on 7 Aug 2018. The one day seminar will emphasise dairy goats, and it will be led by Dr Terry Gipson, an internationally recognised goat expert from Langston University’s E (Kika) de la Garza American Institute for Goat Research.

Seminar topics include:

• Improving Goat Flocks/Herds
• Artificial Insemination in Dairy Goats
• Breeding Strategies and Objectives for Small Ruminants in the Tropics
• Genomics in Small Ruminant Production with Breeding Objectives Emphasised

Registration fee is N$300.00. Lunch is included. Camping is available with prior reservations. To register for the seminar and make camping reservations, please contact: Dr Laurie Marker
phone: 067 306225 or 081-1247887, email: director@cheetah.org.

*****Media are invited to cover. Please contact Dr Marker for details.

CCF and E (Kika) de la Garza American Institute for Goat Research Partnership

CCF received a grant from the Kirkpatrick Foundation in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to work with professors from the E (Kika) de la Garza American Institute for Goat Research to develop best goat farming methodologies. CCF maintains herds of dairy goats in conjunction with its Livestock Guarding Dog Programme and Model Farm. In 2009, CCF began making cheese products from their goat’s milk. In 2013, CCF opened the Dancing Goat Creamery at its Centre expand the products (cheese, ice cream, fudge, soap). The Dancing Goat Creamery doubles as test facility for developing new products and ancillary revenue streams from goat milk and a training facility for rural farmers and University of Namibia Food Science students.

Improving livelihoods for goat farmers is central to CCF’s holistic approach to cheetah conservation, which carefully considers the needs of humans and livestock and wildlife sharing farmlands. CCF hopes the partnership with the American Institute for Goat Research will produce results that benefit Namibian goat farmers.

The American Institute for Goat Research has been located at Langston University, a school of agriculture and applied sciences in Langston, Oklahoma, in the United States, since 1984. The Institute’s mission is to develop and transfer enhanced goat production system technologies, with impacts at state, regional, national and international levels. The Institute has a long history of working with countries in Africa, beginning in the mid-1900’s with research collaborations with Ethiopian universities. Those efforts have expanded to other African countries and now include both research and extension education/training activities.

“We are very pleased to be embarking upon this collaboration with Dr Gipson and other researchers from the E (Kika) de la Garza American Institute for Goat Research. We are excited about the potential impact for Namibian goat farmers, and we are very thankful to the Kirkpatrick Foundation for making this partnership possible”, said Dr Laurie Marker, CCF Founder and Executive Director.

While at CCF, Dr Gipson will also conduct advanced training sessions for CCF farm staff and Future Farmers of Africa programme trainers.

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About CCF
Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) is the global leader in the research and conservation of cheetahs. Founded in Namibia in 1990, CCF maintains a research programme studying the biology, ecology and genetics of the cheetah. CCF has created a set of integrated programmes based on this research that address threats to the cheetah and its entire ecosystem, including human populations. CCF operates from the principal that only by securing the future of the communities that live alongside the cheetah can you secure a future for the species.

About Dr Gipson
Dr Gipson earned his B.S. in Agriculture from the University of Missouri and served in the U.S. Peace Corps in Zaire from 1978 through 1981. Dr Gipson earned a M.S. from the University of Missouri in 1984 and a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in 1989, both in Animal Science. Dr Gipson, in 1993, joined Virginia State University as an Assistant Professor in the Meat Goat Program with his research emphasis on the evaluation of an accelerated kidding system and parasite-resistance in several goat breeds. In 1998, Dr Gipson became the Goat Extension Leader at Langston University, where he coordinates the outreach aspects for the goat programme. Dr Gipson has published several articles concerning goat breeding, production and parasitism in goats.

About E (Kika) de la Garza American Institute for Goat Research
The mission of the E (Kika) de la Garza American Institute for Goat Research at Langston University is to develop and transfer enhanced goat production system technologies, with impacts at local, national, and international levels. Care for goat producers worldwide is engendered through international activities that encompass research, human capacity building, and village development. These programmes, along with knowledgeable and caring personnel and a dedication to the improvement of the lives of goat producers around the world, have made the E (Kika) de la Garza American Institute for Goat Research a recognised leader in the arena of goat production technologies. Research results are published in appropriate journals for goat research, including The Journal of Animal Science, Small Ruminant Research, Journal of Dairy Science, Canadian Journal of Animal Science, Sheep and Goat Research Journal and Animal Feed Science and Technology.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Dr. Laurie Marker
phone: 081-1247887
director@cheetah.org