Subsidies for Goats

Kalash culture revolves around goat sacrifice. Every year hundreds of goats are sacrificed at the major festivals, funerals and coming of age ceremonies. Goats are needed for secular reasons too: in the winter game of Chikik Gal loosing teams must kill an animal, to forge the important bond of blood brother a goat or sheep must be killed and its kidney shared between the two brothers and the traditional charitable act of the Merit feast which feeds a village or even an entire valley requires as many as 200 animals. However, keeping livestock is increasingly untenable in a money driven economy. Kalash welfare is currently planning a livestock subsidy which will encourage young men, Muslim and Kalasha, to keep animals.

£5000 would be sufficient to start this subsidy.