WHAT started off with two sick and rejected goats from the Agriculture ministry some three years ago has since developed is a thriving livestock farm.
Inoke Ravuvou (pictired left) now has 22 very healthy goats which he sells.
The Naikorokoro villager from Sigatoka Valley said he left the tourism industry to return to the farm.
"I used to work at the Mokusigas Island Resort but I left the job and came here to work on the farm that my father used to work on," he said.
Mr Ravuvou said he bought the two goats from the ministry for $120 each because they were sickly. The ministry wanted to get rid of them, he added.
In recent weeks, his son sold the goats at $300 each, Mr Ravuvou said.
"I took care of the two (goats) and we made a profit from their sale. Goat meat is a delicacy in these parts and people are prepared to pay the price," he said.
Mr Ravuvou said goat meat was sold at $3 a kg live weight and $10-$15 for dressed meat.
He said he was concerned at the safety of his livestock after some goats disappeared from his farm
last month.
"Now, I always keep them tied to a rope and I make sure they are tied when I bring them from the pasture," he said.
Mr Ravuvou said he wanted to erect a fence around his property for the safety of the goats but his expenses were prohibititive.
"Goat fencing costs about $215 for a 50metre length and it is hard for small scale farmers like me to afford that.
"I had requested help from the Ministry of Agriculture but there has not been any response from them.
"I am not the kind of person to sit and wait for someone to decide to help me, and so I think I will try to buy the fencing material bit by bit,' he said.
The career change from tourism to agriculture was owed to the fact that he grew weary from depending on his weekly pay packet in the tourism sector.
"I do not want to be so reliant on the money I get from working for someone else, so I do my own farming now.
"Here I am my own boss and I can work how I want to and I do not have to wait for someone else to pay me," he said.
Mr Ravuvou intends to branch out to cash crops like pawpaws, tomatoes and long beans.
cucumber and other cash crops on his farm to supplement his income from the goats.
"People buy goats once in a while but they will always buy vegetables," he explained.
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