Lizhuyuan Village Goat Raising Project
Location: Lizhuyuan Village, Yingzhou District of Fuyang Prefecture.
No. of Recipients households: 80
No. of animals given: 640
No. of pass-on families: 80
Lizhuyuan Village, located at the Quanhe Lowland has limited arable land. Due to the geographic location, the village suffers from flooding for years. Fortunately, it does not affect straws, which are the main feedstuff for the goats. The average annual income of the village is RMB1600 (USD223) per capita, among which 70% comes from short-term urban jobs, 20% from animal husbandry. Of all the villagers, 35% have an annual per capita income of less than RMB670 (USD93), while 8% less than RMB223 (USD31).
The target village has a rich resource of grass and villagers have the habit to keep goats. However, due to the long raising cycle, poor animal management and poor sanitary condition of the pens, the traditional goat keeping did not bring good profit to farmers. Villagers have showed strong desire for the improvement of their livelihood through learning scientific animal raising skills and introducing fine quality animal breeds.
Heifer provides 80 impoverished households with 8 fine quality goats each. Utility and material for the animal health service are provided in the project, along with training for the village animal health worker, and procurement of quality hybrid doe to improve the local breed.
Through developing the livestock production in the poor farming communities, the project introduces changes to the traditional breeding method, improve the production effect and profit, and increase the family income. At the same time, various activities are to organize to enhance the poor communities¡¦ self-management. The district energy office initiates a biogas project to relieve the pressure brought to the environment by livestock raising. Gender and HIV/AIDS awareness training are also provided to the villagers