The goat sectors in the Mediterranean, their issues and challenges are presented to document policy makers and professional stake holders. The objective is to guide them in defining strategies and relevant projects regarding the development of goats. The provided information is based on articulated statistics, testimonies, bibliography and comparisons. After a short general review on the importance of goats in the Mediterranean and their commodities, the main existing production systems are described in relation to their value chain with a focus on some specific cases in France, Spain, Morocco… The contribution of livestock in general to global food security, poverty reduction and its environmental social and economic functions are reminded. In a context where livestock development strategies have to build consensus on a path toward sustainability and contribute significantly to climate change mitigation, goats, once considered as marginal activities of the past, have winning cards to face the challenges to produce more using fewer resources. Both organizational and technical innovation strategies to develop them are explored and discussed.