Imagine your daily survival depends on the land you work tirelessly to cultivate but a plentiful harvest isn't always guaranteed. Unpredictable weather conditions, particularly rainfall, play a crucial role in the outcome and can even dictate the quality of your livelihood.
This is the reality for the people living in Thakurmunda, a district in India, where farming is the primary means of sustenance. The reliance on rainfall for farming in this district means that only one cropping cycle can be undertaken each year — meaning when the crops are dormant, work dries up. Unfortunately, this dependency on agriculture alone leads to challenges such as unemployment, food instability, and families having to leave their homes behind with hopes of finding a better life.
Babilata Das and her husband, Sanjay, used to work their land at the mercy of erratic rain showers. During dry spells, they would attempt to supplement their earnings by raising goats and poultry to try to meet the basic needs of their family. Even then the couple's income continued to be unstable making it hard for them to provide the proper care to rear strong and healthy animals.
Thanks to your consistent support by being part of the Friends of Heifer® community, the future for farmers in India, like Babilata and Sanjay, looks so much brighter.
You’re supporting the Hatching Hope India program — which provides transformational training to people who want to become successful poultry farmers.
This innovative program provides instruction on effective animal care practices, prevention against diseases, and collective business development. It also helps farmers become entrepreneurs by connecting them to industries they rely on to farm.
Babilata and Sanjay dove headfirst into training. For Babilata, it was all about the animals. “I learned about animal care,” she recalls. “I learned how to care for them, what to feed them and where to keep them.”
At the same time, your support helped Sanjay put his diploma in paraveterinary science to use. In the past, he was never able to build a career in the field due to not having the local mentoring he needed.
Through specialized sessions organized by Heifer’s veterinary experts, Sanjay polished his skills and began applying his knowledge. Since then, he’s started training other animal health service providers, creating a vital network that supports thousands of livestock producers in their villages.
After completing the program, Babilata and Sanjay expanded their businesses and saw their earnings grow substantially.
Before your support, the couple could only raise about 10 chickens in their flock which provided around $48 of income. Now, Babilata has more than 50 chickens and their income has more than tripled from poultry alone.
Your gift went even further for the couple. Thanks to you and Hatching Hope, Babilata and Sanjay added a small-scale hatchery to their poultry business — the first one in their village!
“This is a new process and a good innovation for us,” Babilata said. “The chicks from our hatchery will help us earn, and the people who raise these birds will also earn well. We all win.”
Your compassion and generous support made a life-changing impact in Thakurmunda. Before you, the Dases struggled to provide for their family. With having to depend on unreliable weather for their income, they were desperate for a change. Now, they’re thriving and unpredictable rainfall no longer dictates their survival. “We are eating better. We are sending our children to a good school. Our living standards have improved. We are more financially secure than we were,” Sanjay recalls.
Their success is kindling the spirit of entrepreneurship among other community members. They’re inspiring their neighbors to pursue new paths to being financially independent and leading dignified lives.
Farmers around the world can feed their families, run their farms and earn a steady income all thanks to your support as a Friend of Heifer. Your gifts do more than provide training and livestock to families in need. Your gifts give families the tools and resources needed to stop the cycle of hunger and poverty once and for all.
