He however, didn´t stay inactive for long and started his won business. He made animal farming his main enterprise as he realized that other kind of farming was not viable at high altitude. At present with the handsome return from his business, Gharti finds no difficulty in carrying out his household activities.[break]
Gharti initiated his animal farming business with just about 7 goats but lately the their numbers have surpassed 300. “Instead of going abroad in search of employment, I preferred to initiate my own goat and sheep farming business. I make good income from the business currently;” Gharti revealed.
His wife, Ratimaya Gharti lends her hand in Gharti´s business. The couple claims that they earn around Rs. 400,000 from the business annually. “We don´t have alternative source of income in the village. The earning from the goat farming has really helped us in sending our children to school and conducting other household activities,” shared Ratimaya. They also make money by selling the extracted wool from domesticated sheep.
Lately, most of the villagers have imitated the business initiated by Gharti. The cold environment of their village has further encouraged the villagers into sheep and goat farming.
As the winter season sets in, they take their herd of goats and sheep to an area close to Jhebhathar jungle of PandabKhani VDC for three months. “We will return in the last week of March as the goats and sheep cannot bear freezing cold,” said another farmer Sher Bahadur Bhuda.
More than half dozen farmers of the VDC have made animal farming as their main profession. “After the government turned blind eyes to our plight, we switched our profession,” Bhuda said.
“We face problem when the animals get ill as we have no provision for their treatment. We have been neglected by the government as our village is very remote,” said Bhuda.
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