Meigu Mountainous Area Yi People Goat Raising Project
Location: Ajugu Village, Meigu County, LIangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan
No. of Recipients households: 80
No. of animals given: about 160 goats
No. of pass-on families: 80
Ajuqu Village, located within the mountainous area of Meigu County, is a state-designated poor county, located in the east of Luoeyigan Township.
The major income of the villagers comes from farming corns, potatoes, buckwheat and livestock raising (mainly grazing horse, cattle, goats, pigs and chickens). The average annual income per capita is USD73, much lower than the average level of the county.
Due to lack of start up capital and poor geographic location, the villagers can hardly improve their economy without help from outside. The Yi people are the major residents of Meigu County. In rural areas, most households have human beings and animals living together. During the rainy seasons, the manure mixed with mud brings bad smell into the houses. Many of the rural families do not have toilets. The unsanitary living conditions sometimes cause various epidemics.
Meigu goat is one of the most popular breeds in the local area. It has a high breeding rate, fast growing rate and produces high quality meat.
Heifer project provides about two Meigu Goats to each of 80 impoverished households in Ajuqu Village to help them expand the scale of goats kept by local framers. The project also provides related training and technical services to the target community. Besides training on animal management, training on gender equity, human sanitation and healthcare, environment conservation are provided to the recipient families improve the farmers' income and living standard.
Heifer hopes that within three years, the participant families will be able to increase their incomes, raise their quality of life, including a better diet, better hygiene and better education for the children, as well as improving the communities' environment, such as separating animal shelters from their houses and adopting zero grazing to raise goats