Battambang, KH – TY family earns a profit from a pig loan – 20 Nov 2015

The TY family sold the pigs that they bought using a micro-loan from Healthy Life Garden Shop and earned US$55 profit after repaying the loan and paying for medicine, feed, and a new pig pen.  They used the profit to make some home improvements and to pay for school materials for their children. TY fattened the pigs for four months and sold them when they weighed 90kg and 95kg.

This was the TY family’s first opportunity to raise pigs and they are happy with the profit they earned. The micro-loan enabled them to purchase two piglets and build a quality pig pen. Now that they have built a pig pen, they are confident that any piglet fattening ventures in the future will net them more profit.

The family faced multiple challenges during the period where they were fattening the pigs. Firstly, there was an outbreak of Blue ear swine disease which threatened their investment. Through close observation and good sanitation practices they were able to keep both of their pigs healthy. The second challenge they faced was the decline in price per kilo paid for rural pigs, because news of the disease meant that buyers were reluctant to purchase pigs from local families, and preferred to buy from larger industrial operations.  They received US$1.70/kg instead of the normal US$2/kg.

The TY family are applying for another pig fattening loan in December and want to increase the number of pigs they raise to three. They plan to use the profits to continue their pig fattening business without any additional loans.