Goats kept in smallholder farming systems across the developing world face specific welfare challenges including disease, inadequate nutrition, and limited veterinary access. Improving welfare in these systems benefits both animals and farmers.
Goat welfare in smallholder farming systems requires contextually appropriate approaches that recognize the economic reality of farmers who may themselves be food-insecure. Imposing welfare standards developed for high-income commercial farming contexts is both impractical and inappropriate. Effective welfare improvement in these systems comes through community animal health worker training, accessible veterinary products, improved breed selection for local disease resistance, and extension services that connect welfare improvements to the productivity outcomes farmers care about. Better-fed, healthier goats with managed parasite burdens produce more milk and grow faster - welfare and farmer welfare are aligned.