Buffalo 1, Buffalo 2, Buffalo 3

By Heifer Nepal

October 3, 2019

Last Updated: March 5, 2012

Durga Koirala’s family are farm laborers. The family owns a set ofoxen for draft power. They are her only livestock. Owning oxen makes them alikely choice when landowners are looking for farm hands. Durga became a partof a Heifer project in 2011 and received a lactating buffalo. She has made agood income from the milk in the past couple of months. Durga also received improvedanimal management training from the project. She learned scientific ways ofhousing and feeding the buffalo to maximize milk production. The localCommunity Animal Health Worker (CAHW) also comes by often to check on itshealth and vaccinate. This support structure formed by the project, which alsotrains CAHW‘s and equips them to provide technical and medical support to beneficiariesand their communities.


Durga’s confidence has soared with the knowledge and support shehas received through the project. “I did not have any buffalos. But I am nowaiming to keep three buffalos and make the sale of milk my primary income,”Durga says, beaming. Her buffalo will soon have a calf making the number two.With the savings from the milk sale and a loan from the group fund, Durga hopesto make the number three.

Editor's note: This post is part of a new series that follows the progress of specific families, starting at the beginning of their work with Heifer. Initially, this series will focus on our programs in Asia/South Pacific, where our colleagues have chosen one family in each region in the countries where we work and will bring us quarterly updates.