- Tuesday, 27 October 2026
Humla, Oct 27: Goats worth around Rs. 40 million were traded in the Himalayan district of Humla during Dashain this year, driven by the festival’s religious and cultural traditions, which include animal sacrifice.
Goat trader Man Bahadur Parki, who brought 400 goats from Saipal in Bajhang, said he had conducted business worth nearly Rs. 10 million. Although around 25 per cent of his sales were made on credit, he said this was the highest volume of Dashain trade he had done so far.
He said he had also brought goats for sale from Lipulek, Darchula and the Api Himal region in Sudurpaschim Province.
Another trader, Paldan Sunar, who sold around 350 goats, said he had also recorded his highest-ever sales during Dashain this year.
According to Sunar, local people bought goats priced between Rs. 20,000 and Rs. 35,000 for the festival’s sacrificial rituals. He attributed the increased sales of locally raised goats partly to China’s refusal to allow the import of chyangra (Himalayan mountain goats) through the Hilsa border crossing.
Local resident Jaya Bahadur Shahi, who purchased a goat for Rs. 34,000 for sacrifice during Dashain, said higher prices had not dampened demand.
Although traders had expected goat sales to decline compared with previous years, business had increased instead, he said, adding that the trade also reflected the cultural significance of Dashain.
For the first time, traders also transported four truckloads of goats from Humla to Pokhara for sale, extending the market beyond the district.
The Humla Chamber of Commerce and Industry also reported an increase in goat trading during Dashain. It said the trade had typically reached around Rs. 30 million during the festival in previous years, but sales were significantly higher this year.
Similarly, our Nepalgunj correspondent Siraj Khan adds, women farmers in Fattepur, Rapti Sonari Rural Municipality-6 of Banke district, sold 700 goats during this year’s Dashain festival, helping them cover their festival expenses.
Around 400 women farmers in the village have been raising goats commercially through the Naya Shrijanshil Social Entrepreneur Women’s Cooperative, according to its chairperson, Ganga Shah.
She said traders and consumers directly visited the cooperative during Dashain to purchase live goats, which were weighed and sold at Rs. 700 per kilogram. The sales enabled the women farmers to manage their expenses for the festival.
“The women bring the goats they have raised to the cooperative for sale. They have them weighed, and we sell the goats in their presence,” Shah said. “A total of 700 goats were sold during this year’s Dashain.”
Women engaged in commercial goat farming through the cooperative have contributed to increased goat production in Banke, Shah said. She added that women involved in goat farming were now selling between 10 and 12 goats a year. The cooperative has also helped women avoid the hassle of finding markets and the risk of being cheated by traders by managing the sale of goats raised by its members.
Sabitri Chaudhary, a woman farmer from Fattepur, said the cooperative’s direct involvement in selling goats had freed farmers from the difficulties of searching for buyers and being cheated by traders. —
