Sustainable Parasite Control in Backyard Goat Production in the Highlands of Guatemala

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By Dr. Leyla Rios, F2F Volunteer in February 2023

About the Assignment: Leyla Rios de Alvarez supported the Centro Caprino of the CABPRO project as a Parasitology Analysis and Laboratory Expert.  Dr. Rios established a methodology on collecting goat manure samples to conduct parasitology analysis and develop a profilactic treatment plan. Dr. Rios is currently Assistant Professor in Extension and Research in the Department of Animal & Dairy Sciences at Mississippi State University.

The Farmers-to-Farmers experience in Guatemala has been wonderful. It is my first time in this beautiful country. Being able to work with the team that assists and helps empower women and their families from rural communities in this beautiful country has been a privilege and a blessing. To acheive the main objective of empowering women and their families from rural communities of Huehuetenango, Guatemala, the team has benefitted 350 families with a dairy goat that will be able to help improve their nutrition through the production of milk for their children under 5 years. 

My contribution as a volunteer with the Farmer-to-Farmer program was to train the families and technical team on sustainable parasite control, the use of the FAMACHA© System, and the identification of parasites; this last one using a program that I developed called “TAKING THE LAB TO THE FARM.” This teaches them how to make better decisions on which animals need to be dewormed and when to deworm. This contributes to the sustainability of goat production because it reduces the use of commercial dewormers which reduce the resistance in the parasite population and the contaminate the environment. These are major problems in sheep and goat farming worldwide.

During the first week of my activities as a volunteer, we trained three groups of women on the use of FAMACHA© and the use of other external indicators of the animals, such as the Body Condition Score (BCS). I was able to also train the technical team. So, for the second and third trainings, the technicians already took part as trainers of the group of women. This training helps women to be able to have a better evaluation of the progress of their animals and be able to call for help if they see that something is not normal. The technical team is now able to have a more in-depth evaluation of the animals through the analysis of fecal samples from the goats and the presence and number of nematodes and coccidias.

During the second week, the same training was given to the technical team from Centro Caprino of the FMLE. Now, they also can identify parasite eggs and count them. They also have more knowledge about the importance of using external indicators such as FAMACHA©, and BCS. I also gave a talk to Animals Science Students from the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC) and gave them a demonstration on FAMACHA and BCS as well. For my last activity, I took part in a demonstration that the technical team was performing for the women on the preparation of cheese using goat milk from the communities.

This project is so meaningful for these rural communities from Huehuetenango. The team is amazing, they work hard and are very organized, Field Coordinator Maria Eugenia is great to work with and the two CABPRO technicians, Osvin and Armelio, and Yohana provide great technical support to the women and their families.


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