The Project planned to have the first Indonesian meeting of all involved in the Project in South Sulawesi in November 2008. Dr Peter Murray (UQ)(animal production) and Dr Roy Murray-Prior (CU) (supply chain and markets) and our Indonesian collaborators in Makassar planned to map out tasks over the next 12 months. Unfortunately Dr Murray wasn't given permission by UQ to travel to Indonesia at that time (because of potential terrorist activity) and the meeting was postponed until February. A second visit occurred in May 2009.
During February Drs Murray and Murray-Prior visited Makassar and Enrekang and meetings were held with collaborators in BPTP (Dr Rasrullah, and Ibu Ayu and Yusmar), Dinas Peternakan staff and Dr Asmuddin Natsir, Hasanuddin University. The location and outcomes of these meetings were:
(1) The major live goat market in the Enrekang District was visited and farmers and traders interviewed. In Enrekang Project staff and collaborators including local Dinas staff and members of two goat farmer groups (Boland and Pernanian) met to discuss their problems and the Projects objectives.
(2) The Project team visited Parepare port and interviewed a major local goat trader and boarded a ship used to transport Enrekang goats to Kalimantan.
(3) One of the Project team travelled to Polmas/Polewali then Majene and Mumuju and interviewed traders and farmers at these markets and took a series of photographs and videos of the goats and the markets.
(4) The price and volume of different types of goat meat on sale in the local supermarkets (Carrefour, Diamond, Hypermart) was recorded and the oldest restaurant Malabar specialising in goat meat in Makassar (one of three owned by the same family) was visited and the owner interviewed.
(5) Project members had meetings with the Director and Deputy Director of the Kepala Dinas Peternakan, South Sulawesi and discussed Dinas Peternakan involvement with the Project and interest in increasing the number of goats in South Sulawesi.
(6) To assess the types and amount of goat meat sold from the Makassar wet meat Project members visited Pasar Sentral and interviewed goat meat sellers.
(7) The major findings were that there is strong demand for goats as seen by the relatively high prices and movement of goats from farmer to market through possibly several traders to the final consumer, and this demand is tied to cultural and religious requirements. Also there is a perception that consumption of goat meat may be a cause of hypertension in older consumers.
Between February and May in-country Project staff conducted two major studies: a PRA with two groups of Enrekang farmers (Sepakanana and Pernanian), and a survey of 200 consumers in Makassar to obtain information about their consumption of meat, focussing on kambing. Goitre and rickets were two problems that Enrekang farmers believed they needed help to resolve, the other problems they experienced with their goats, bloat, vaccinations and diarrhoea they felt they had solutions. Goats owned by these farmers were fed mainly Gliracidia, and Setaria, and by-products e.g. cocoa pods, but were infrequently given drinking water. Sale of manure was seen as a significant source of income to the farmers.
During May 2009 Drs Murray and Murray-Prior visited Makassar again and meetings were held with collaborators Dr Rasrullah, and Ibu Ayu and Yusmar, and Dr Asmuddin Natsir about the outcomes of the PRA. Potential solutions to the goitre and rickets problems were discussed including gaining information on the types, prices and availability of mineral supplements. It became obvious that a cheap technique to be able to record liveweights of animals was required to monitor their general condition. Two sets of clock face weigh scales were purchased and a kambing pasar in Makassar visited where goats were weighed and a series of body measurements recorded to determine if heart girth measurement could be used as a reliable and accurate method to estimate liveweight. Even with the limited sample size it was apparent heart girth measurement could be used as a reliable and accurate method to estimate liveweight in goats. Thus the Project has a technique that will allow farmers to cheaply but accurately measure and record liveweight, and thus liveweight change, as a means of evaluating feeding regimes and feeds, and with further knowledge determine the appropriate timing for reproductive management, the actual price per kg of animal received at market, etc.
Data on the consumer survey of goat meat consumption was still being collated during the May 2009 visit by Drs Murray and Murray-Prior.

The Indonesian Government through Central and Provincial Government, and District initiatives (e.g. importations of exotic goat breeds, loans for the purchase of goats, extension activities) has encouraged farmers in Indonesia, and South Sulawesi in particular, to embrace goat production as a means of meeting the need to increase living standards and the increasing demand for animal protein. These initiatives have reached the point where a number of goat farmers in the Enrekang District have progressed from the 'Keeper' (animals kept by families as 'petty cash') type of production system to a 'Producer' (producing animals as their livelihood) type of production system and are now constrained by a lack of husbandry and marketing knowledge and skills. Significant export markets for goat exist within South Sulawesi. Constraints to increased goat production and access to these domestic and export markets could be overcome with refinements to existing goat production, transport and marketing systems, which as well as producing more and bigger, younger animals would also increase incomes for existing goat producers and assist with the development of a viable goat industry within Indonesia.

As such, goat producers in the Enrekang District identified a need to increase their capacity to produce more goats (and therefore increase their incomes and their economic security) but recognised their limitations in terms of knowledge and skills in goat husbandry, management and marketing. The project developed approaches to develop more sustainable systems that integrated goat production with estate plantation crops in Eastern Indonesia and enhanced goat productivity and meet market specifications through improved management of feed and reproduction. It also investigated opportunities for improvements in the goat supply chain and alternatives to the existing chains.

The project has:
Shown that Iodine, in the Povidon form, when applied to the skin of goats overcomes goitre problems quickly
Developed a practical, cheap and accurate method and tool for estimating the liveweight of goats for specific populations of goats
Gained a better understanding of the consumer constraints in Makassar and the supply chain of goats in Sulawesi and its interconnection with other islands in Indonesia.
Farmers involved with project (and those from neighbouring villages) have increased knowledge and skills of: solution to goitre problem, improved feeding other than gliracidia, and capacity to better manage and market their goats