Goat farmer Roy Abel says the market for goat meat is growing but the challenge is insufficient supply of the meat.
Abel said he intends to increase his current 19 goats to include over 100 female goats to meet the demand.
The farmer was among small livestock farmers who displayed their animals at Tagabe Agriculture Station, to coincide with the launching of the first ever Livestock Policy last week.
Dressed in a brown cowboy hat complete with blue jeans and cowboy boots, farmer Abel arrived with a fat mother goat and its small one.
“I planned to display my prized goat but it was too heavy to take with me so I chose this tame one and its baby”, he said rubbing the animal while it listened.
Asked how it all started, he said the late ‘apu’ Neil Thomas once urged church members during his visit to Port Vila, to go into farming and make use of the fertile green environment. “If some years ago, you saw some goats cross the street at the Vanuatu Cooperative Federation then they were my goats but now we have moved on to Teouma”, he said.
“I did a trial and delivered two goats to Furet Butchery and he asked me to supply two goats a week. This is why I want to increase my herd”.
To breed goats, all that the farmer needs is good grass and a good fence with space for the animals to roam.