Phillipa and Brangka Munan’s Borneo Efforts Pay Off

New Zealander Phillipa Munan and her husband Brangka, who earned his Bachelor of Agriculture and Science from Lincoln University, operate The Milk Shop, an organic dairy goat farm in Kuching, Borneo.

The couple are overwhelmed by the number of visitors to their humble goat farm of late.

“We are innocent farmers from New Zealand, and we don’t know that goat farms are a tourism product in Malaysia. So many people came visiting that we are now in the process of building better toilets for the visitors,” Brangka said.

Phillipa, who has a Bachelor of Agriculture and Commerce, later became an accountant before helping Brangka to operate the farm.

According to Brangka there is also potential in dairy cow farming in Sarawak, considering the vast land available – stressing that Thailand and Indonesia are already venturing into it.

“We have submitted our proposal to the government for cow farming too and would love to share our experiences at the grassroots level,” he said.

An important part of the proposal to the government, he stressed, is the Residential Internship.

“Goat milk is a niche product; our products are available at certain chain supermarkets but cow milk [has] bigger potential because there is no fresh milk in Sarawak. If you want fresh cow milk, you have to import it,” he said.

Original article by Abdul Hakim Bujang, The Borneo Post, October 18, 2017.

Photo by Abdul Hakim Bujang.