Pig rearing for a better tomorrow

Radha chuckles as one of her piglets plays in her arms. She has 19 piglets and 22 pigs on her farm and enjoys rearing them.

One year ago, when she started her pig farm in Tilotama Municipality, she had just 13 pigs, five of them were given to her by World Vision. Radha lives in a family of 26 people and most of them are involved in agriculture and traditional cattle rearing.

In the beginning she was a bit skeptical about pig rearing but gradually she realised that it was a good opportunity to improve her family’s income. After seeing the potential, she feels assured that her family’s income will be improved.

As additional support she also received the equivalent of $100 to purchase cement for the construction of the pig farm. She also received crucial training from World Vision in the management of a pig farm, training in which 14 members of her community also participated. They learned about vaccination, sanitation, insurance, fodder, and hygiene. Later she shared what she learned during the training with her family members who assist her in the management of the pig farm.

She says, “Without the training, my family would have had a hard time managing our pig farm because we only knew the traditional methods which are not efficient. Now, our farm is clean, there is proper sanitation facility for the pigs and we also provide hygienic fodder for them. Moreover, all our pigs have been vaccinated and most of them are insured as well.”

One healthy pig can fetch up to  the equivalent of $180 USD. Her whole family feels excited about the prospect of selling the pigs in the local market, as it will give them more profit than from their usual business.

Her father-in-law Bhuwan, 69, adds, “Our pig farm is going in the right direction and all our pigs and piglets are healthy. Although it requires a lot of hard work, and time, we are really motivated by the current outcome to expand our business and therefore, after we earn sufficiently from pig rearing, we have decided to venture into fish farming.”

Awareness of pig rearing in Radha’s community has significantly increased after she started her pig farm, which covers an area of more than 1000 sq.m. Members of her community have been closely watching her progress and they too, are enthusiastic about  investing in pig rearing. At the moment, Radha’s family is even producing pig fodder on their own.

Radha plans to use some of the profit from pig rearing and invest in her eight-year-old daughter Nirmala’s education. She is currently studying in class 4 and dreams of becoming a professional dancer.