Kralendijk – Many tourists come to Bonaire to dive and enjoy nature. Tourism is the most important source of income for Bonaire. A healthy environment on land and in the sea, forms the basis of the economy.

Research shows that there are 32,000 goats on Bonaire. Much of this is roaming free. Research conducted on behalf of the Public Entity Bonaire by Wageningen University into goat farming shows that existing goat farming has little future: only stew is produced and the yields are marginal.

A large part of the kunuku’s have been abandoned, causing the social cohesion in the rural area to disappear. There are also problems with theft and wild dogs.

Future

In order to offer goat farming a future again, the researchers have drawn up an action plan for the professionalization of goat farming. The goal is to create a win-win situation by combining economy and ecology: strengthening goat farming and goats within the fences. To strengthen goat farming, efforts are made to modernize the slaughterhouse, feed production, breed improvement, lamb meat production, goat management and safety.

In collaboration with the LVV Department, the Professional goat farming project was started under the leadership of program manager Olaf Creutzberg.

Sherwin Pourier and Weero Koster are executive project leaders for the underlying projects. The R&D department is responsible on behalf of the Government of Bonaire.

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