Isingiro — For years, women of Kanuyanda and Nyakitunda sub-counties, in Isingiro District have unsuccessfully struggled to free themselves from the shackles of poverty.

But in 2006, a project, Millennium Development Goals implementation pilot project, was introduced to try and deliver these closely knit women from the yoke of poverty, where many had failed before.

With it came goat rearing, a monumental turning point in these women's lives. "I used to keep local goats on subsistence level, which would fetch me very little money. Before the project came into being I had 36 local goats which I was keeping on free range, but now with the advice of our agriculture coordinator I keep 15 improved goats," Ms MacLean Kamugisha of Ruhiira told Saturday Monitor.

Ruhiira Millennium Villages Project was started in March 2006 in the sub counties of Nyakitunda and Kabuyanda to establish a rigorous proof of concept for implementation of practical interventions needed to achieve the United Nations millennium goal of reducing extreme poverty over a five-year time frame.

One of the activities identified by locals was goat rearing because the area is hilly, making it impossible for cattle keeping, a common activity in this southwestern part of Uganda. It is that project that has seen Ms Kamugisha's life transformed from subsistence to commercial goat rearing.

An improved goat costs Shs400, 000 on the open market while a local goat goes for about Shs60,000. "I have already sold three improved goats which fetched Shs400, 000 each. I have used the money to put up a water tank," Ms Kamugisha says with a smile on her face.

Dr Louis Aziku the livestock facilitator of the project says goat rearing was chosen as a form of enterprise because the locals requested for it. And once it's well handled, he said, it is very lucrative. "There is a very big market in the Arab countries, which we cannot satisfy because we lack enough animals," he said.

Many of Ms Kamugisha's colleagues have taken on the venture as a way of escaping the clutches of poverty.

Dr Aziku said before embarking on goat rearing, farmers sat down and identified the problems they faced, like land shortage, poor breeds, inaccessible livestock inputs, poor pasture and lack of lucrative markets. To address these problems, farmers have been trained in good goat management practices.

The project managers have constructed six demonstration shelters and provided improved pasture seeds and put up demonstration gardens where farmers are trained. According to Ms Kamugisha, the training has been beneficial. "I have been able to sustain my goats that I keep on zero grazing."

An increase in the number of goats and improvement in the breed will significantly impact on her production, she said. "We have been promised better breeds of Boer he-goats from South Africa."

The commutations officer of the project Shakila Bint Sheik says at this rate if women remain focused, they will be able to reduce on the dependency syndrome on men.

"This will empower the rural woman who will eventually be liberated from the yoke of poverty," Ms Shakila said. For now, Ms Kamugisha doesn't need a man to meet her immediate needs.

The goats will do just fine.