Qusum County Community Development Project
Location: Qusum, Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR)
No. of recipient households : 40
No. of animals given: 80
No. of pass-on families: 40
Located at Shannan Prefecture, Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR), Qusum is a place with poor communication. No vehicles are available in this remote region with horses and yaks as only means of transportation. Animal raising and agriculture are the major source of income. However, the climate there is very extreme and unpredictable and it is very cold in winter. Growing season spans only 4 months and crops limited to highland barley, wheat, peas etc which are of low nutritional and marketing value. On average, each farmer earns only RMB2, 000 yuan per year, of which only RMB600 is cash.
Old women used to weave cloth to earn money but the second generation lost this skill as they did not think it could be a money making opportunity.
In this project, Heifer will provide loans for 40 families to purchase 80 yellow cattle. Training on animal management and land fertiliy will be provided to the families. Training will also be provided to female recipients to teach them how to turn their traditional weaving into money making business.
In 3 years, we hope that recipient families will increase income by 20% and 80% of female will be able to sell their weaving products to make money. Besides, land fertility could be improved and the survival rate of animals and their offspring could be increased by 10%.