A Different Kind of Exchange Program

by Jill Bayles

Shaban Haskocela didn't hesitate for long when he learned he could turn in the illegal weapons he'd acquired during a period of civil unrest and looting in his country and exchange them for Heifer International livestock.

His trade-off was part of a collaborative "Guns for Cows" project among Heifer International, the United Nations Development Program and officials in war-torn Albania, a country that underwent a deadly period of civil unrest and social upheaval in 1997. Through the project, Albanian villagers receive one pregnant Holstein or Jersey dairy heifer for every three weapons they hand over to the government. The weapons are then either destroyed or turned into shovels, pickaxes and other agricultural implements.

From Looting to Livestock
The reasoning behind this innovative program is that people who live in violence-ridden societies are often willing to give up their weapons if they believe there is a credible guarantee of security and a chance to improve their livelihoods.

And it's proving to be true: Many other villagers in Orikum and nearby Shengjergji have joined Haskocela, realizing that the reward of livestock to help their struggling farms is much greater than their need for the small arms, which they had obtained during the country's civil unrest in 1997.

Officials estimate that 550,000 weapons, 839 million rounds of ammunition and 16 million explosive devices vanished during the widespread looting that year, which was triggered by the collapse of the communist regime and the ultimate fall of pyramid schemes.

This loss of their life savings devastated Albania's farmers, who depend on livestock as the major source of their income. Lacking the money they needed to improve the quality of their animals, many families angrily raided the country's arsenal of weapons while others fled the rural areas to seek work in Tirana, Albania's capital. But they found few opportunities, and some even faced starvation.

Heifer first stepped in to help two years ago with its Dairy Goats for the Unemployed Project. Heifer staff in Albania worked with staff in France to bring in Alpine goats, a French breed well-suited to Albania's mountainous environment. Today the project is helping 60 families create their own small-scale dairy goat farms in the Paskugani community.

Arming Themselves with True Security
Meanwhile, Albania's government was attempting to disarm the area that has long been known as "Europe's Powder Keg." They often resorted to house-to-house weapons checks that subjected citizens in possession of illegal weapons or ammunition to prosecution and up to seven years' imprisonment if convicted.

Todi Grahdani, who oversaw the nationwide weapons-collection effort, told the Associated Press at the time that the police crackdowns weren't working. "One can hardly imprison 200,000 Albanians with weapons," he said.

That's when the U.N. Development Program came up with the idea of offering development incentives in return for citizen disarmament – a project that was an easy fit with the work Heifer Albania staff members were already doing.

When a Heifer Study Tour group visited Albania last year, Shaban Haskocela and his family greeted the participants warmly and proudly introduced them to their new addition: a six-week-old calf. With Heifer's help, the family built a cement block shelter for the cows, and they've also received feed concentrate and other farming supplies to improve the production of forage. Now their plot of 12.5 acres produces corn, maize, beans and other vegetables.

In exchanging death from weapons for a better life from livestock, Albanians can look forward to the future with optimism, real security and, most importantly, the hope of peace.

Jill Bayles is the Internet Content Coordinator for Heifer International.