Land Bank of the Philippines, a government financing institution focused on agriculture, has opened a new loan window for cooperatives and small entrepreneurs who would like to get involved in goat raising.

Delia Ladao, Land Bank Vice President for Mindanao, said that goat financing package offers a P565,187 loan payable in 5 years with a 21% counterpart from the proponent which could either be a cooperative or a small and medium scale entrepreneur.

The package involves 1 buck and 25 does to be raised for commercial purposes by the proponents. Given an average birthing rate of 1.8 per doe three times in two years, the loan repayment could be achieved on the fourth year of the operation of the project.

This is of course based on the assumption that the goats used in the project would either be high breed milk goats, like the Anglo-Nubians, or meat goats like the Boers.

An Anglo-Nubian or Boer cross buckling or doeling for breeding purposes could fetch no less than P5,000 at age four months, an earning potential that cannot be realized with native goats.

Bred for the meat market, a year-old upgraded goat could weigh as much as 50 kilos and at a live weight price of P100 (roughly $2) per kilo, the same goat would still earn for the farmer P5,000.

The current goat craze is fueled by the huge demand for both breeding stocks and goats for the meat market.

The Philippines is currently targetting the huge demand in Saudi Arabia of goats, especially during the pilgrimage in Mecca where an estimated 2 million goats are slaughtered daily for the month-long period.

The Province of North Cotabato has already embarked on a massive goat raising program that aims to raise 1 million does over the next 10 years and position itself as the top goat producer in the country.

The loan package for goat raising will further boost the program initiated in North Cotabato and spur the development of the goat industry in other parts of the country.

The goat financing program is one of the innovative loan packages being offered by Land Bank thus opening a new investment horizon for cooperatives and small entrepreneurs.

Those interested in the loan package are advised to see Vice President Delia Ladao in Davao City or the various Land Bank lending centers in the country.

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