Raising goats on her own for the first time is the opportunity presented to Kafuné Mariko. At 20 years old, Mariko is the youngest candidate in the Daba Kamalen project, but she learned at a young age how to care for animals.

Having no goats of her own, Mariko’s local advisor gave her a gift of two goats to start her herd. The village chief also gave Mariko a billy goat, and now her herd is poised to grow fast as several of the females are pregnant. Click here to view the original video.

• More from the FarmQuest project: Fanto Samake

Mariko is a contestant in Farmquest, a “radio reality” series sponsored by Farm Radio International, a Canadian organization that works with African radio stations to deliver extension information to farmers. Each of the six contestants submitted a business plan for a farm operation, and each was featured in a series on Radio Fanaka. We’ll feature each over the next few weeks. The winner receives a cash prize to help start his or her new farm venture.