Panca Nugraha, The Jakarta Post, Mataram
As many as 2,200 poor families in West Nusa Tenggara received cattle assistance worth around Rp 22 billion (US$2.40 million) between 2003 and 2007 in a bid to eradicate poverty and boost livestock husbandry, an official said Thursday.
""The assistance system is continual in that for every cow given, for example, the recipient is obliged to return a cow within a period of four years,"" head of the West Nusa Tenggara Livestock Husbandry Office Abdul Muthalib said in Mataram.
The assistance was channeled through farmers' groups, Muthalib said, adding that every group, which consisted of 25 families, was entitled to receive assistance valued at Rp 250 million. Such assistance enabled each family to get three to five cows, he said.
Muthalib said most farmers' groups had been able to successfully breed the cows, thereby enabling them to meet their obligation to return cows for distribution to other farmers' groups.
""There will be an overview of the program at the end of this year, which is in line with regulations that stipulate the program must be evaluated every four years,"" he said.
He added that livestock husbandry was a potential investment opportunity in West Nusa Tenggara. The province, which includes the two bigger islands of Lombok and Sumbawa, has vast grazing areas capable of accommodating around 2.6 million cows.
However, the potential had yet to be fully realized, he said, as the total number of cows and buffaloes in the province has only reached around 800,000 at present.
""Only one third of the potential has been utilized, meaning there is still a great opportunity to tap the remaining two thirds,"" he said.
Of the 4.2 million people living in West Nusa Tenggara, only around 210,000 families are involved in the cattle-breeding business, including the 2,200 poor families who have received the cattle assistance.
""There is still a good opportunity for the private sector interested in investing in livestock husbandry in West Nusa Tenggara,"" he said, adding the province was the fifth largest of the 18 major cattle-producing provinces in Indonesia.
The number of cows and buffaloes raised in the province last year reached 110,000, of which 78,000 were raised for human consumption and another 32,000 for breeding, he said.
Of the 78,000 cattle raised for human consumption, 47,000 were to meet demand in the province with the rest shipped to other provinces, including East, Central and West Kalimantan, South Sulawesi, Maluku, East and West Java and Jakarta.
