The idea, the system and the philosophy

The Ubuntu Goats Principle

How five women, five goats and two carefully separated funds can create a growing circle of personal ownership, cooperation, security and new opportunities.

The Ubuntu principle

Ubuntu is an African philosophy based on our connection with other people. It is often expressed through the words:

When one person moves forward and helps another move forward too, the whole community grows.

Within Ubuntu Goats, this principle becomes something practical. Five women each receive one goat. Their own herds can grow, while the value created by the male kids is reserved in the New Goat Fund to create a complete beginning for another woman. A separate Daily Care Fund helps the five women meet genuine shared needs when they care well, report openly and respect the agreed Ubuntu Goats principle.

Why one goat can become a valuable beginning?

For a family living in a rural community, a goat can be a practical and valuable beginning.

Milk can contribute to the family’s food.
Milk can be made into cheese and yoghurt.
Kids allow the herd to grow.
The animals represent value and greater security.
Goats can help create income.
Their manure can be used to improve gardens and fields.

The project uses West African dwarf goats. They are well adapted to the local climate and conditions. They are small, relatively easy to care for and can usually have two or three kids during one pregnancy.

One young female goat may appear to be a small beginning, but she can become the foundation of a growing herd.

Why five women and five goats?

An Ubuntu Community begins with five women. Each woman receives one young female goat.

One woman with one goat can create an opportunity for herself and her family. Five women working together can also create a small support network.

They can share what they know and learn together.
They can help one another care for the goats.
They can notice illness or other problems more quickly.
They can support one another during difficult periods.
They can make community decisions together.
They can encourage more women to become involved.

Five women form a group that is large enough for cooperation, while remaining small enough for every woman and every goat to be known personally.

Each woman remains responsible for her own goat and her own growing herd. What the women share is the journey: they cooperate, protect their common beginning and help the opportunity spread.

What each woman receives

Each woman receives one young female West African dwarf goat. The goat is identified and registered in her name and belongs to her. Every female kid later born to her goats also remains hers. In this way, the first goat can become the beginning of a herd that she builds for herself and her family.

The opportunity is deliberately broader than the animal itself. Ubuntu Goats also provides the practical foundation needed to care for the goat responsibly and to benefit from her over time.

basic materials for feeding, watering and daily care;
a safe communal shelter and shared equipment for the five goats;
the agreed initial health care, identification and registration;
practical knowledge about feeding, illness, pregnancy, birth, milking and herd care;
local guidance and follow-up;
the support of four other women who begin the same journey.

The goats may provide milk for the household. Milk may also be processed or sold, while the female kids allow the herd to grow. The knowledge, materials and cooperation created around the goats are intended to remain useful long after the first goat has been received.

The woman receives ownership, but she does not begin alone. Her goat comes with care, knowledge, practical support and a community around her.

What is expected from the women

Ubuntu Goats offers a real opportunity. In return, each woman accepts clear personal responsibilities, while the five women also make shared commitments as a group. The local project liaison supports them without taking over their responsibilities or decisions.

Each woman is personally responsible for caring for her female goats and their young by providing suitable food, clean water, safe shelter and attentive daily care. She also remains responsible, together with the group, for the proper care of any male kid born to her goats until he is sold. The other women help when illness, absence, a difficult birth or another urgent situation makes support necessary.

Births, pregnancies, illness, treatment, deaths, disappearances, theft, sales and purchases must be reported promptly and entered in the Central Community Goat Register. The women provide honest information and, when requested, photographs or other evidence so that animal welfare, project events and the use of money remain transparent.

The women meet once each month to discuss the goats, the communal shelter, sales and purchases, the two funds, supporting evidence, practical problems and any help that is needed. Every woman must be able to speak freely. Together they protect the shared shelter, equipment, materials and money entrusted to the group.

The women also follow the agreed procedure when male kids are born and sold. When the project is ready to include another participant, they help select her fairly and welcome her into the community.

The project asks for personal responsibility, honest reporting and cooperation—not perfection. Each woman cares for what belongs to her, and the group helps when help is needed.

What happens when the goat has kids?

A goat is pregnant for approximately five months. West African dwarf goats often give birth to two or three kids.

Female and male kids have different roles within the Ubuntu Goats system.

The female kids remain with the woman

Every female kid born to her goat belongs to the woman. She keeps and cares for these young females. They become part of her own herd and may later have kids of their own.

One female goat may become two or three.
Those goats may later have kids.
The woman gradually builds a herd of her own.
Her family gains greater security and more possibilities.

The woman is not asked to give away the female goats that allow her own herd to grow. Her progress matters.

The male kids strengthen the whole community

When a male kid is old enough, healthy and in suitable condition, he is sold at the local market.

The net proceeds from every sale are placed in the New Goat Fund and recorded transparently.

This money is ring-fenced for creating a complete new beginning. Once sufficient reserves have accumulated, it is used to select and buy a suitable young female goat and to pay the agreed costs of her health care, identification, registration and transport, as well as the new woman’s individual start-up package, training and initial support.

Every male kid brings the next woman’s complete beginning one step closer.

This is how it works

A woman’s goat gives birth.
The female kids remain with her.
A male kid is raised until he is old enough to be sold.
The male kid is sold at the local market.
The net proceeds are placed in the New Goat Fund.
The money remains reserved for the complete beginning of the next woman.
Once sufficient reserves are available, a suitable new woman and young female goat are selected and the goat is checked and purchased.
The new woman receives the goat, her individual start-up package, registration, training and initial support, and begins building her own herd.

One male kid does not necessarily pay for one complete new beginning. The Fund may need time and the proceeds of several sales. Once sufficient reserves are available, a new woman is selected according to the Operating Rules. A majority of the participating women must support the choice, the local liaison must approve it, and the new woman must understand the conditions and be able to meet them. Family members do not receive automatic priority. She joins an experienced group that can help her take her first steps.

This arrangement protects both forms of progress. The women keep the female kids through which their own herds can grow, while the male kids gradually create a complete beginning for somebody else.

The herd grows around the first five women, and the opportunity gradually grows beyond them.

A birth the whole community can celebrate

Within an Ubuntu Community, the pregnancy of a goat is more than a private event for one woman and her family.

A female kid strengthens the herd of the woman who owns the mother goat. A male kid brings a future beginning for another woman closer. Every birth therefore creates hope both within the first families and beyond them.

Because the community can follow the journey from birth and registration to sale and the later arrival of a new female goat, the growth of the project remains visible and shared.

One woman’s goat gives birth—but the hope created by that birth belongs to the whole community.

Two funds, each with a different purpose

The two funds are kept separate because they do different jobs. Money may only be used for the purpose of the fund into which it was paid.

The New Goat Fund

The net proceeds from the sale of male kids go into this fund. The money is reserved for the complete process of creating a new beginning for another woman: selecting and buying a suitable young female goat; providing the agreed health care, identification, registration and transport; and paying for the new woman’s individual start-up package, training and initial support.

This separation ensures that every male kid helps the Ubuntu Community grow and that the money cannot be absorbed by unrelated day-to-day expenses.

The Daily Care Fund

This fund belongs to the five women together and is managed by them under the agreed conditions. Ubuntu Goats or a foster may contribute up to the agreed monthly amount—initially GMD 2,000—when the women care well for their goats, report openly, hold their monthly meeting and protect the shared resources. The amount may be adjusted when costs, available resources or project circumstances change.

The money is kept as safely as possible in an online wallet or suitable account. One woman may hold the card or access method, but this never gives her the right to decide alone. Except in a genuine animal-welfare emergency, an expense is discussed and approved by a majority of the five women. Every expense is recorded with as much evidence as possible, such as a receipt, photographs, the seller’s name, the date and amount, and confirmation by the two women involved.

Permitted purposes include necessary goat health care, identification and registration, urgent shelter repairs, essential supplementary feed, shared care materials and reasonable project transport. The fund may not be used for private loans, household food, clothing, private phone costs, school fees, personal medical costs, celebrations, gifts or other unapproved private purposes. New monthly contributions may be suspended when money or evidence is missing, records are deliberately incorrect or an expense falls outside the permitted purposes, and may resume after the problem has been resolved.

One fund carries the opportunity forward to another woman. The other helps the existing group care for what it has already built.

From outside support to growth from within

A conventional aid project might purchase goats for new women each time more money becomes available. Ubuntu Goats begins differently.

Outside help may provide the first five goats and the shared foundation needed to begin. After that, the New Goat Fund creates new opportunities, while the Daily Care Fund helps the women respond to agreed shared needs.

The women become active participants rather than passive recipients.
Each generation of goats can contribute to care, resilience and further growth.
The two funds keep growth money and shared care money clearly separated.
Local responsibility becomes part of the system.
The New Goat Fund can continue creating new opportunities from within the community.

Outside help creates the first opening. The women, their goats and the two funds help protect it, strengthen it and carry it forward.

How a community and its first five women are selected

An Ubuntu Community is not selected after one short application or a single conversation. The process is deliberately careful and takes place step by step.

We first learn about the community, its circumstances and the person making contact. We then ask more detailed questions about local support, experience with goats, cooperation, practical conditions and the community’s willingness to take responsibility for the project.

If the first conversations are encouraging, the community must show that it can select five women through an open, fair and Ubuntu-inspired process. The women are not chosen by one person behind closed doors, and Ubuntu Goats does not simply select them from a distance. The community proposes them because local people know their circumstances, abilities and reputation. Ubuntu Goats then examines how that choice was made and whether the five women understand and freely accept what participation involves.

The community is asked to propose women who are willing to care responsibly for a goat, learn and work together, support one another and help the opportunity reach other women in the future. Reliability and a genuine willingness to participate matter more than promises made for the purpose of an application.

Even after the women have been proposed, the project does not begin immediately. The initial form and follow-up questions examine whether the community has the people, shelter and practical environment required. The roadmap then explains every preparation step. Before the agreement is signed, each of the five women completes a seven-step understanding check with short explanations and simple multiple-choice questions. This allows Ubuntu Goats to verify that every woman sufficiently understands the project and participates voluntarily.

The five stages below make this entire process visible. They show that selection and participation are not based on a vague promise, personal favour or momentary impression, but on information, local participation, practical preparation, demonstrated understanding and clear mutual commitments.

Stage 1 — The initial community form The process begins with online questions that help us understand whether a community has what it takes to become an Ubuntu Community. The initial form allows the community to introduce itself, its circumstances and its interest in Ubuntu Goats. View the initial form → Stage 1 — Follow-up questions about the five women These questions help us understand how the five women are proposed, whether the selection is fair and whether they appear ready to take responsibility and work together. View the questions about the five women → Stage 1 — Follow-up questions about a safe shared shelter These questions examine where and how the shared shelter can be built, whether the location is safe and how the women will share responsibility for it. View the questions about the shelter → Stage 1 — Follow-up questions about the practical environment These questions look at the practical facilities and support available in or near the community, including water, feed, animal health care, transport and access to a market. View the questions about the practical environment → Stage 2 — The Road to Becoming an Ubuntu Community The roadmap explains step by step how Ubuntu Goats is built, from the community’s application and fair selection of five women through every practical preparation required before the project can begin. Open the roadmap → Stage 3 — The seven-step understanding check Once the community and the five women have been selected, each woman is invited to complete seven simple steps. Every step begins with a short explanation and is followed by confirmations and multiple-choice questions that help us check whether she understands the project and freely accepts what participation involves. Start the seven-step understanding check → Stage 4 — The Ubuntu Goats Community Agreement The agreement is signed with the five women after the preceding stages have been completed. It records ownership, care, cooperation, the two funds and the lasting commitments accepted by the participants. Open the agreement → Stage 5 — The Ubuntu Community Operating Rules The Operating Rules accompany the agreement and explain what to do when practical situations arise, including sickness, birth, death, sale, purchases, fund expenses, conflict or a woman’s inability to continue. Open the Operating Rules →

A community is not chosen because it promises that the project will work. It is chosen because, step by step, it shows that it is ready to make it work.

A local person who helps everyone stay connected

Ubuntu Goats may begin a project from a distance, but the daily reality of an Ubuntu Community is always local. Questions arise, materials must be checked, goats need attention and small difficulties are best noticed before they become serious problems.

For that reason, Ubuntu Goats works with a trusted local liaison: a woman or man who knows the local language and circumstances and can help communication flow between the five women, their community and Ubuntu Goats.

This person does not take the project away from the women. The women remain the owners of their female goats, manage the Daily Care Fund together and make their group decisions themselves. The liaison stands beside them and helps registration, health follow-up, monthly meetings, purchases, sales, supporting evidence and communication work in practice.

What the liaison can bring

clear explanations in a language the women understand;
regular contact when distance makes direct communication difficult;
practical help during the preparatory roadmap;
help checking deliveries, materials and completed stages;
simple, honest updates about progress and difficulties;
early notice when a goat, shelter or group arrangement needs attention;
contact with experienced goat keepers or animal-health workers when needed.

What this helps protect

the welfare of the goats;
the ownership and voice of each woman;
the careful use of money and materials;
the accuracy of simple records;
the trust between the community and Ubuntu Goats;
the foster’s confidence in what is happening locally;
the project’s ability to learn from experience and improve.

The liaison is given clear tasks and clear limits. The person may observe, explain, assist with records and report, but may not own the women’s goats, own or privately control either fund, take over the women’s group decisions or promise additional support on behalf of Ubuntu Goats without authority. The liaison only makes a deciding choice where the Operating Rules expressly allow it.

Ubuntu Goats Local Community Liaison Agreement The separate agreement explains the liaison’s tasks, limits, reporting duties, compensation, expenses and quality-related payments. It makes the role transparent for the women, the community and everyone supporting the project. Open the liaison agreement →

The liaison does not lead the women’s project. The liaison helps make sure that distance never becomes silence, that difficulties are seen in time and that the women can build their Ubuntu Community with informed support close at hand.

Why fostering still matters

Ubuntu Goats prepares and launches the project, carefully selects the community, provides the goats and start-up support, explains how the project should work and follows the first important steps together with the local project liaison.

There is no automatic handover after a fixed number of months. Ubuntu Goats remains involved until the community has a sound foundation and a suitable foster is ready to take on an agreed supporting role. This may happen sooner or much later, depending on the community’s progress and the availability of an appropriate foster.

Being self-supporting does not mean being left alone

Moral support is an important part of fostering.

Continued human connection remains valuable. The women still benefit from encouragement, recognition, practical advice and the knowledge that others remain interested in what they are building.

Overall reporting and follow-up also remain necessary.

The local project liaison supports this work. The liaison:

helps record births, deaths, illnesses, treatments, sales and purchases in the Central Community Goat Register;
helps with identification, registration and animal-health follow-up;
supports the monthly meetings;
assists with purchases, sales and supporting evidence;
communicates progress and difficulties to Ubuntu Goats or the foster.

The women remain responsible for correct information and for the decisions entrusted to them. They manage the Daily Care Fund together: one woman may hold the wallet card or access method, but a majority decides on ordinary expenditure and the required evidence must be provided. Ubuntu Goats or a foster does not replace this decision-making. Monthly contributions remain conditional and may be suspended when money, evidence or correct records are missing.

The New Goat Fund remains separate and reserved for complete new beginnings. Its income, purchases and related costs are recorded transparently.

When a foster becomes involved

A foster becomes involved when a suitable match has been found and the community, Ubuntu Goats and the foster understand the practical arrangements. The timing is based on readiness, not on a predetermined deadline.

The foster provides a continuing human connection, encouragement and interest, and may take on an agreed role in receiving general updates and supporting transparent follow-up. A foster may also contribute to the Daily Care Fund under the arrangement that applies at that time. The foster does not own the goats, shelter, materials or funds and does not replace the women’s decision-making.

Why a gradual handover matters

Ubuntu Goats must eventually be able to direct more of its time and resources towards launching new communities. A carefully matched foster can maintain the human connection and receive general updates, while the women continue to exercise their own responsibilities and the liaison provides local support within clearly defined limits.

This gradual arrangement allows an established Ubuntu Community to retain encouragement and transparent follow-up while Ubuntu Goats helps another community begin.

The foster group helps one Ubuntu Community continue to grow, while Ubuntu Goats helps another community begin.