Is It A Good Idea To Give A Goat To Africans As A A Christmas Gift?

I am an African and I am sure I would definately not like a goat for Christmas ( I would find it rather offending), unless if the assumption here is all africans like goats?? I am also not oblivious to the suffering of fellow africans, the solution should not lie at Christmas gifts of goats but in everyday actions like trying to open opportunities for Africans whereever they are. This would be a lasting Christmas gift every African would appreciate. But sometimes its the thought that counts!

It sounds so generous.  Buy a goat, in someone's name, instead of buying them a Christmas present.  You buy the goat for a poor community in the developing world.  Your friend gets nothing in their hands, but they get to read all about how the goat will provide milk, breed and provide baby goats (which can be eaten or later bred and milked), and slowly add wealth to the poor community.

It sounds great, but the whole idea has come under criticism.  The goats may actually end up being shipping out from the west to places like Africa (adding to carbon emissions).  Goats are prolific eaters of vegetation, need to drink a lot of scarce water, and can considerably add to desertification and environmental degredation.

Instead of goats, plant orchards, argues Animal Aid.  But this argument seems to ignore the fact that trees need water, too.

Goat senders, like Christian Aid, argue that they make sure gift livestock is managed sensibly so as not to harm the environment.