As classic cattle traders struggle with the economic benefits of coronavirus, new corporations the opportunity
This is the first year fateh Khan, who runs an ancestral breeding business with his brother Sardar Khan, has had to buy third-party animals to sell for Eid ul Adha.
Khan, 50, is from Sahiwal. Each year he looks towards the “Bari Eid” (Great Eid), also “Bakra Eid” (a bad pronunciation of Baqr Eid) in Pakistan.
Every year, for the more than 20 years, he has been leading his circle of relatives and a herd of sacrificial animals (raised in a circular way all year round with the help of his five children) from Sahiwal, Punjab, to the many farm animal markets in Karachi that spring. before Eid ul Adha.
“I usually sell my animals to Sohrab Goth mandi [cattle market] and the GDP colony [a district in the east district of Karachi], but due to government restrictions on animal markets within the city premises, we control the sale of animals in major markets. this time, ” said Khan.
Fortunately for him, the coronavirus seems to have tempered the spirit of the festival.
Khan stated that there had not been a dramatic replacement in the costs of his animals because, to his knowledge, interested buyers are still bidding on the animals according to his wishes despite the general impression that the coronavirus may have damaged the country’s purchasing force. Masses.
The highest animal wanted was sold this year by a calf that charges 180,000 rupees.
But local farm animal merchant Muhammad Farrukh Ansari, who sells his animals near Maskan Chowrangi, disagreed. He said the market had been severely affected due to the on-the-go viral situation, as the purchasing force of the population had been particularly reduced.
Speaking to Geo.tv, Ansari said, “People who bought animals for more than 100,000 rupees [piece] this time bought animals for less than 100,000 rupees.”
“Last year I sold about a hundred animals and most of them were worth more than 100,000 rupees. However, this year I have sold only 60 animals to date and a giant component of them was between 60,000 and 90,000 rupees. . [one piece] Ansari added.
As with other companies, the coronavirus pandemic has also opened the door for start-ups to supply consumers at their doorstep.
Addressing Geo.tv, the founder of a new qurbani-linked company, Muhammad Aqib Mughal, said the population’s reaction has been the right one so far, even if the business objectives have not been fully met. He said the result was acceptable and that the company looks promising in the coming years.
“We have had consumers not only from Karachi, but also from abroad. Foreign Pakistanis have bought us animals using online payment methods,” Mughal said.
“Our business this year aims to continue in the coming years, because other people want animals for the sadqa from time to time.
We also plan to take pre-orders for cows and goats,” he said, adding that if a user buys a cow or a baby goat six months before the Eid, he can also request the platform for this purpose.
By stating that the visitor may rely on the data provided on his company’s website, Mughal emphasized: “It is our duty that we provide the same animal as the one we provide online. If we have a lack of communication, we update the animal immediately. “
For moderate rates, pets are also delivered to customers’ doors for loading at their convenience. Mughal said animals can be sold online at competitive costs in the market because they use a minimum of resources and time.
The young entrepreneur noted that due to the lack of acceptance in online business by the masses in general, the biggest impediment was gaining confidence, which he expects to happen over time.
Given security problems and the imposition of varying degrees of blockade for more than 4 months, which hindered activities in general, more people opted for online booking and the qurbani ijtemaai (collective sacrifices) this year.
According to Oun Abbas Jafferi, head of public relations for the Jafferia Disaster Management Unit (JDC), the organization has gained a 100 percent build-up in slaughter animal reserves compared to last year.
The collective sacrifice of the organization is for those in need: all the flesh of sacrifice goes to those who cannot, he added.
The representative of JDC said that to date they have also won more than a hundred animals, adding cows, goats and camels, in the form of donations from supporters around the world.
Explaining how the organization is implementing protective measures amid the fears of coronavirus, he said the animals had been tied to a distance from others. In addition, circles are drawn on the ground for a social distance from visitors who come to see the animals standing.
“We introduced this service so that the deficient can also enjoy the same meat quality as us,” Jafferi added. He said that the spirit of helping those in need, which was felt in abundance when the closure was first imposed, was also manifested in Eid ul Adha.
“People make a lot of donations,” he said.
A representative of the wellness organization Al-Khidmat, Syed Khizer Baqi, said many other people have moved to collective sacrifice this year due to security measures, but basically because of the economic crisis.
“Not everyone can an animal during the coronavirus,” he said.
Speaking about whether their animals were less expensive than those on the market, he said, “We are committed to making other people less difficult and offering healthy animals at moderate prices.”
Comparing statistics to last year, he said the welfare base had noticed an increase of about 30 to 40% in reserves this year.
“About 350 cows and 500 goats were booked in Gulshan-e-Iqbal of Karachi just a week before Eid,” he said, adding that last year they had booked two hundred cows and 350 goats in total.
“We target all the security measures prescribed by the government, and even our butchers will get masks and gloves,” Baqi said.
In the midst of all the new and past businesses that created this Eid, Ayesha Ghani, 22, also made an impression. This year he sells 36 animals in the mandi itself.
“I had felt a desire to break stereotypes that mandis and animal markets are not an option for women,” Ghani said, described that the joy of dealing with consumers and negotiating animal costs is a enlightening and engaging procedure in general.
Having enjoyed the animals since his training years in Punjab, Ghani shared that he had grown up worried about livestock.
He said he had an idea about gender roles in our society.
“With my fun promoting animals on the market this year, I plan to bring animals to those cattle markets every year,” he added.
Headline image: Cattle merchants complete their camels to the Muslim of Eid al-Adha, at a farm animal market in Rawalpindi on July 28, 2020. —AFP / Aamir Qureshi