This week, government officials from Senegal are visiting with staff from Heifer Nepal to learn about their work in the Strengthening Livestock Value Chain project. Aminata Mbengue Ndiaya, the minister of livestock and animal production in Senegal, and Aliou Sall, the national president of the mayor’s association, are among the Senegalese delegates.
Earlier in the year, Heifer International’s President and CEO Pierre Ferrari and Senior Vice President of Programs Mahendra Lohani traveled to Senegal and met with several members of the government. In Senegal, there is a high demand for sheep, but they are mostly imported for neighboring countries. Ndiaya and her colleagues want to equip locals to provide sheep to meet that demand.
In Nepal, Heifer is working on a similar challenge— to reduce the importation of goats through working with small-scale farmers in the country. Ferrari and Lohani invited the Senegalese government officials to see the work up close, and months later Ndiaya, Sall and several others flew into Kathmandu to learn about the project and take those lessons home.
On October 26, the group attended a Passing on the Gift ceremony in the village of Kalika where 100 women gave a goat each to another 100 women. About 1,000 people attended the event. In her speech to the crowd, Ndiaya noted that the gifts are not only increasing family incomes but also making the community stronger.
