According to Bhanu Bhakta Parajuli, president of Livestock Traders Service Association, the association sold only 27,000 goats during Dashain this year, down from 40,000 goats last year.

Live goat which was priced at Rs540 per kg last year reached Rs690 per kg this year. Mutton prices soared to Rs1,200-1,300 per kg in the same period from Rs990 per kg last year.

“The price hike is the major reason for a fall in consumption during festival time,” he said. “At a time when goat meat is in demand, the price soared beyond most people’s reach.”

The price of mutton had skyrocketed due to a heavy fall in imports of livestock from India after the government made it mandatory for traders to produce a quarantine certificate while bringing live goats from the southern neighbour.

According to the Department of Customs, 100,155 live goats worth Rs771 million were imported from India for Dashain during the two-month period from mid-August to mid-September last fiscal year while the import figure during the same period this fiscal year was negligible.

Parajuli said they had targeted to sell 30,000 goats during the festival. According to him, the sales of mountain goat also declined during the period.

Anil Khadgi, former president at Nepal Fish and Meat Sellers Association said that goat sales dropped beyond their expectations.

Similarly, Food Management and Trading Company, which supplied 1,100 goats and 1,900 mountain goats said that it still has unsold livestock. The company has reduced the price to Rs700 from Rs750 a kg for live mountain goat in order to attract customers.

Likewise, the sale of chicken also fell heavily as the demand went down with a large number of people leaving the Valley for their villages in order to celebrate the festival, said Jung Bahadur BC, president at Nepal Chicken Sellers Association.

According to him, the Valley normally consumes 225,000-300,000 kg of chicken daily while it stood at 200,000 kg this Dashain. Chicken cost an average of Rs290 per kg.