Tag Archives: Rabbits

How Heifer Projects Are Promoting a Healthy Environment: Part 2

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On April 18, Worldwatch Institute’s blog, Nourishing the Planet, published a list of 15 ways agriculture can “promote a healthier environment and a more food-secure future.” In honor of Earth Day 2011, we would like to explore these 15 ways and how Heifer’s projects around the world are addressing these issues. We are doing this in three separate posts, matching five Heifer projects with the corresponding Nourishing the Planet concepts. Read 1-5 here.


6. Using Farmers’ Knowledge in Research and Development

Heifer Lithuania’s Cooperation and Development of Farmers for Poultry and Rabbits in Plunge Project is increasing entrepreneurship among rural people living near Zemaitija National Park by first creating sources of income for the local community and then providing the foundation for local business creation. Last April, project participants went to a hands-on training on rabbit breeding and keeping on a local, modern rabbit farm. The farmer had received his own training in Spain and was very kind to show his farm, share his experiences and answer project participants’ questions. The farmer had 500 female rabbits, some of which were pregnant, while others already had offspring. The farmer shared his expertise in making rabbit hutches. Upon returning home, project participants were inspired to make their own farms as productive as the one they had visited.
7. Improving Soil Fertility
Heifer project participants around the world use a number of soil-enriching agricultural practices. Compost, animal manure and even worms (and their castings) can be used to build the soil. Some of our projects are located in valleys with rich, fertile soil. Other projects, including those in cities, must improve their soil before they can begin to grow anything.
Do this experiment to learn how earthworms act as nature’s plows and add nutrients to soil and build your own worm bin.
Fund a Project in Oregon that will provide earthworms, among other things, to participants.
8. Safeguarding Local Food Biodiversity
Heifer’s Sustainable Food Systems in Copan and Lempira, Honduras Project will benefit 2,058 families in western Honduras. Families here struggle with poverty that is exacerbated by farming steeply sloping land with low fertility. This project provides cows, hens, fish, goats, sheep, rabbits, bee hives and fruit trees. In addition to promoting agroecological practices, this project is help;ing families establish food gardens with local crops to feed people and livestock, for natural medicine and to protect the environment. The project also works to recover and promote the use of local seeds.
9. Coping with Climate Change and Building Resilience

Read this post on how Heifer’s projects improve local ecosystems, help families out of poverty and cope with the changing environment.
10. Harnessing the Knowledge and Skills of Women Farmers
Much of Heifer’s work, particularly in Asia/South Pacific, is done through women’s groups. Women are severely marginalized in many countries here, but it is the women who are the communities’ best bets. Here’s the story of a project participant from Nepal:

I am Tika Mahato, a member of the Daunnedevi Women’s Group. As the eldest of three sisters in a poor family where both parents worked from morning to night, I was burdened with the responsibility of taking care of my siblings. My father was ver encouraging about my education, but he was also pressured by society’s norms about women.

I come from a marginalized ethnic group in Nepal, the tharu, in which women are considered the family’s honor and treasure. We are not allowed to tread outside of our houses, talk to strangers or voice our thoughts on family matters. Girls from the age of 10 are encouraged to find partners and get married. I was married at the age of 15 and bore two children by the time I was 19. My in-laws were not very well off. The family struggled to provide for every meal. All of us worked as laborers, but money was never enough. In 2006, an incident changed my life as I knew it; my husband passed away, leaving me with two children.

Having always been dependent on him for everything, I was in a state of shock for a long time. I stopped caring for my two children. What would I do with my life? The question and its unknown answers plagued my mind. My mother says I used to stare at nothing for hours. During that time, a group was being formed. Seeing this as an opportunity to engage me, my mother forced me to join. Reluctant to focus on anything except my misery, I did go to the meetings but never took part in any discussions. Slowly, the members started becoming my friends. I felt like I had someone to count on in the time of need.

My group then took the Cornerstones training — it was like four days of continuous awakening. I felt like all my questions after my husband’s death were being answered. I was overcome with guilt for abandoning my children. Yet instead of looking ahead in life, I was burying myself in the sorrows of my past. Though fully capable of working and providing for my family, I was becoming a burden for my parents with whom my children and I lived after the death of my husband.


I now have a renewed sense of faith and belief in myself. I have my goats that I received as gifts from Heifer, and my life has found a purpose with the goats. I plan to be independent and raise my children without the shadow of poverty.

Fund a Project working with women’s groups in India, Nepal, Laos or Cambodia

Heifer China: Scenes from CEO Visit

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Video by Geoff Oliver Bugbee

A whirlwind two-day trip through Heifer projects near Chengdu, China, took CEO Pierre Ferrari and other staff members to visit successful rabbit and pig projects in Dayi and Beichuan County, China, one of the most damaged areas from a 7.9 magnitude earthquake that killed about 70,000 people in May 2008, and displaced or otherwise affected 15 million people in the area.

Three years after the quake, participants at the Beichuan project site continue to raise Heifer pigs for nutrition and income and live in new homes rebuilt with government help. They say that Heifer’s values-based model has helped them maintain the solidarity that came after the quake when everyone shared what little they had and worked together to get through the disaster.

“Other NGOs come after a disaster and soon leave. There’s a deeper commitment here,” said Li Yong, a regional government representative and Heifer partner. “The Heifer project provides very important income for these families. It’s whole community development.”

A smattering of welcome fireworks, well-practiced dancing by a women’s group and the sharing of food and drink throughout the afternoon illustrated the uniting effect of the project. Heifer China staff members led the community in an animated discussion about the interrelatedness of Heifer’s 12 Cornerstones in a self-review and planning meeting.

“When I saw you working with the Cornerstones, I was thinking we should be doing the same back at headquarters,” Ferrari said in a speech to the participants. “It reminds me that when a project is over, it’s still important for us to stay in touch with the Cornerstones, to keep each other accountable.

“You had a terrible tragedy three years ago. It’s you who have rebuilt your community with commitment, sharing and caring, spirituality. You have made your community what it is today.”

In the video above, look closely at the faces of those who have a stronger, more connected community because of Heifer International projects. You may even recognize a couple of them, including Ren Xuping, dubbed the “Rabbit King of China” in a 1999 Wall Street Journal article, and his wife, Zhang Xuping.

Ren Xuping put the value of Heifer’s work in China well.

“I value most in life my many farmer friends. By Passing on the Gift I’m happy and we are happy together. If I only think for my own wealth then I am a lean tree standing all by myself; I cannot resist a strong wind. That is not good for social harmony for others to have to strain to look up at a lone, tall tree. Heifer helps us develop not just ourselves but also our community. It brings us all up together, a group of trees supporting each other.”