Benedito Mendonça
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília - Brazil plans to expand its sheep and goat herds, currently numbering 25.8 million head, to satisfy growing domestic demand and diminish imports, estimated to supply 50% of domestic consumption of this type of meat. The source of this information is Ricardo Falcão, president of the Sectorial Chamber of the Caprine and Ovine Productive Chain in the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Supply. Brazil produces 38 tons of goat meat and 71 tons of lamb and mutton annually. The Sectorial Chamber met on Wednesday (20) in Brasília with herders from all over the country to discuss the National Caprine and Ovine Sanitary Plan.

According to Falcão, the Northeast region possesses 94% of the national goat herd and 53% of the sheep flock. The breeding of these animals, however, has stagnated for 20 years, he says. In his view, the challenge is to enable new breeders who are interested to succeed. "We must organize the entire productive chain so that this growth obeys a norm and can be solid, to avoid a situation in which many breeders get started and then give up in midstream."

In the Northeast the raising of goals and sheep constitutes the chief economic activity for many families. "These small animals resist the drought better and can be converted into cash more rapidly than cattle," he observes.

Translation: David Silberstein