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A new LEADER II project will establish Angora goat enterprises on existing farming units
in a marginal area of Portugal that do not at present have any goats. As mohair production
in Portugal becomes established the fibre will contribute significantly to the rural economy
of the region. The present project will be innovative in Portugal, in terms of its organisation
and objectives, and aims to offset the current problems facing these areas, such as the
abandonment of existing farming units, which is leading to desertification in certain rural
areas in Portugal.The introduction of Angora goats to the Cova da Beira region will contribute to the
diversification of livestock at the regional and national level. This will increase the
national production of mohair fibre, in which both Portugal and the EU as a whole are
deficient.group of ten breeders, each starting with twenty females and two males will be formed.
The breeders will be linked in a co-operative, which will buy and transform all the mohair
fibre produced. To achieve this, the co-operative will subcontract work to textile factories
in the region. As the breeders are associated together, they are able to retain complete
control of the purchase and transformation of raw material, as well as the commercialisation
of the various products, thus benefiting from the added value of the processing stages.
This will make a significant contribution to the economic profitability and technical
sustainability of their agricultural activities.The project is firmly based on the concept of integration. The encouragement of cooperation,
with the use of common facilities (e.g. shearing, technical assistance, etc.) and
the synergy of the cooperative will create the necessary economic balance of the farming
units and support the systematic and continuous development of quality and efficiency to
suit the requirements of the market.
The objective of the project is to test the economic viability of the introduction of Angora goats in Portugal and its potential to supply an alternative or complementary income to rural population usig traditional extensive animal production systems.
