Small ruminants (goat and sheep) are an integral part of smallhold farming systems. Goat has established itself as a good source of meat (chevon) and milk. Sheep is relatively new, requiring more attention in terms of promotion. Goat's popularity as a "poor man's cow" boosted its total production from 59.67 thousand MT liveweight valued at P1,908M in 1992 to 73.58 thousand MT liveweight valued at P4,535.47M in 2003. On the otherhand, the volume of local sheep production is being complemented by imported mutton (sheep's meat).

Population Inventory

• Goat inventory increased from 2.0M in 1990 to 3.3M in 2003.
• 99.5% of total goat inventory are in backyard farms while sheep numbering about
      35,000 are mostly owned by affluent farmers.
• Top producing regions are Central Visayas (486.0T head), Ilocos (456.8T head),
      Western Visayas (353.9T head), Southern Mindanao (321.6T head) and Southern
      Tagalog (254.8T head) accounting for about 56.6% of the total goat population.

Supply and Demand

• Gross supply of chevon in 2003 was 33,007 MT.
• Chevon utilization was 25,308 MT and 8,242 MT for carcasses and offals, respectively.
• Per capita consumption is still low at 0.42kg/year.

Competitive Advantage

• Increasing demand for chevon and mutton
• Requires only a small initial investment; risk of loss is small
• Women and children can easily participate in small ruminant production
• Can be easily integrated with other crop-based farming systems
• Small ruminants' ability to utilize cellulosic feed materials and to survive in marginal
      environment
• High incidence of twinning and short gestation period which allows meat and milk
      production in relatively short period
• Technologies and resources for increased productivity and efficiency are available.

Interventions

• Evaluation and promotion of upgraded/indigenous stock of goat and sheep
• Performance evaluation of recently introduced exotic breeds of goat and sheep
• Appropriate management of young animals
• Development of an effective disease and parasite control/eradication programs
• Promotion of local sheep production and mutton consumption
• Improvement of marketing/pricing systems
• Conduct of policy studies and advocacy activities