Tag Archives: manure

Why Water Buffalo?

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It is truly astounding how each gift of livestock can change the lives of Heifer participants all around the world. I’ve seen it each time I’ve traveled for work. But I’ve never been more impressed than when I saw some water buffalo projects on my trip to Cambodia in 2010.

San Pheap, 12, Sok Phong, 7, and Sieng Hai, 6, on a water buffalo in Chrey Krem, Cambodia.

Imposing creatures to be sure, water buffalo are actually quite gentle and patient (as you can see from the photo above as this animal allowed three little boys to ride on her back).  It was really fun to watch Seng Ouy bathe his family’s water buffalo. The animal’s reaction to the bath reminded me a lot of what my basset hound looks like when I put him in the tub to wash him down.

Water buffalo are prized in Cambodia. Often too expensive for smallholder farmers to purchase on their own, water buffalo often serve as “living tractors” for farming families in Southeast Asia. The draft animals can help families plant up to five times more crops than they would be able to plant by hand.  And rice planting is backbreaking work.

water buffalo bath

Seng Ouy, 19, washes the family's water buffalo.

The gentle giants also provide families with milk rich in calcium and protein that can transform malnourished children. Plus, the fats in buffalo milk make it ideal for processing into cheeses that also help build strong bones.

Another benefit families see from water buffalo is manure. Adult water buffalo produce about six tons of manure a year, and for families that have biogas digesters, that manure provides precious methane to power cook stoves and lamps.

Give the gift of a water buffalo today. You’ll be providing a family with a valuable tool that will give them plenty in return.

This post is part of our What to Give series, where we’re helping you choose the best Heifer gift for your loved ones. Read previous What to Give posts here, and subscribe to the What to Give series here.

Still don’t know what to give? Check out our entire online Gift Catalog.

Heifer Around the Web: A Little Girl Determined to Change the World

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Every Sunday we will highlight some of the people who are funding our work creatively or helping us spread the word of our mission online. If you spot Heifer International while you’re surfing the web or know of a fun or creative fundraising effort, please share it with us here in the comments!

It’s so inspiring to read blogs about those who give of their time and hard-earned money to help us in our mission to end hunger and poverty. These caught my eye this week:

With the huge jackpot looming, there had been talk everywhere about what people would do once they won the lottery. We were lucky enough to be mentioned in one would-be winner’s plans.

This mom blogs about how “some bedtime tears and $7.00 turned into two flocks of chicks and two strongly worded letters to President Obama and Secretary Clinton. And a little girl determined to change the world.” A great read on Redefine Girly, Pigtail Pals blog.

Mary Steenburgen talks home decor, entertaining, and her candle company, which donates $2 from each candle purchase to Heifer International.

These people made the news last week for their creative fund-raising efforts on behalf of Heifer International:

Fairfield Grace United Methodist Church in Connecticut hosted an annual Bunny Breakfast last weekend with proceeds going to Heifer International. Check out the cute pics!

Jana Bass mixes her business (all-natural goat milk skin care line) and generous spirit by bringing one of her goats to talk to third-graders about Beatrice’s Goat, a true story about a Ugandan girl who received a goat through Heifer International, allowing her to sell milk and afford an education, hoping to inspire them in their own fundraising efforts to buy a goat to help a family in need become self-sufficient.

Students in the Davies World Language Department in Fargo Schools competed to raise the most loose change for Heifer International’s matching project in Vietnam, so their hard work’s results will be doubled. Team Pig won, Team Sheep came in second, and Team Rabbit came in third, with a total donation of $2,185.00. (I love those team names, don’t you?)

Mike Ainsworth of Illinois is gearing up for a 420-mile cycling tour to raise awareness on world hunger and Heifer International. Read the whole story here.

And last but not least, here’s an interesting little snippet about a Heifer project in Cameroon, found on a climate action website:

Julian Mengue, a government program participant set up with the help of Heifer International, turns her animals’ manure into fuel, saving money AND helping the environment at the same time.

Allin Kausay

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Good Living. That’s what Allin Kausay means. It’s the name of a Heifer Peru project in the Cusco region of Peru. This project, which is only about five months in, plans to contribute to improved food systems and living conditions for 1,540 families. Heifer does this by helping them plan the management of their resources, implement agroecology, link to local markets, and involve them in processes that impact local and regional policies for rural families.

Friday morning we visited Dolores Delgado on her farm in the Huachanccay community about an hour from Cusco. Dolores’ farm is small, but very well organized and well-kept. In just the short five-month life of the project’s activities, the practical benefits of agroecological production are clear. In the next four or five years, Dolores intends to be a certified agroecological producer. She is already one of the biggest sellers of guinea pigs in the areal. Right now, she gets about $8 per guinea pig. Once she’s certified, she’ll get nearly $15 per. To earn even higher an income, Dolores will be able to sell an organic breeding male guinea pig for $36 each.

Have a look at her farm:

Heifer Peru and Headquarters staff arrive at Dolores’ farm.

Common on Heifer participants’ farms are project-related murals,
painted with colored clays. A plastered building for guinea pigs is a big deal here.

Cuy Breeding “Happy Little Farm”
A sign welcomes us into Delores’ guinea pig room.

We must step in ash before entering the guinea pig house so we don’t bring in contaminants.

Wire on the ceiling helps keep rats and weasels away from the guinea pigs.

Dolores shows us her guinea pig cages, which her son helped her build.
There are metal pans under all of the cages to allow for the collection of manure.

The pipes in the back allow Dolores to capture urine, which is high in nitrogen.

Dolores shows us a breakdown of her guinea pig production in terms of inputs, costs and profits.

Dolores shows us the nutritional breakdown of guinea pigs, which are highly nutritious.

Dolores grows fodder for her guinea pigs. She has a basket of ryegrass and barley.

Dolores also makes regular feed for her animals.

In addition to saving money by growing and processing fodder and food for her guinea pigs,
Dolores also cuts costs by making her own medecine. She keeps her animals very healthy,
so they don’t often require medecine at all. What she’s holding is a salve for grass cuts they sometimes get.

Pierre Ferrari gets to hold a guinea pig.

Dolores is so proud of her farm and pleased to show it off to us.

Dolores practices worm composting with guinea pig manure.

Once the compost is ready, Dolores ferments it with water in a drum.
The jug is full of what we would call “compost tea.”

Dolores’ husband uses a basic sprayer to distribute the compost tea.

Using organic fertilizer is already paying off. These are fodder crops for the guinea pigs.

They’ve also used the fertilizer on their family vegetable garden with great success.

And what would a Peruvian farm (or street, for that matter) be without a sleeping dog?

Manure is Money in Nepal

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Heifer International’s Nepal-based communication officer Puja Singh sends us this field video, reminding us of the importance of something as simple as compost.

Heifer encourages agricultural practices that care for the earth. In Nepal, Heifer’s project participants have benefited greatly from the use of composted manure from animals that Heifer places with families. For project participants, improved crop yields often lead to increased standards of living since manure saves farmers money they would need to spend on chemical fertilizers and thus increases profits.

Indeed – manure is money.