This project will apply an integrated approach to the pervasive problem of illness, food insecurity and dependency, which stretches the resources of impoverished communities in the Copperbelt province of Zambia. Project participants will receive Heifer value-based training in animal husbandry and health, gender equality issues, group organizational capacity, and basic record keeping before placement of food-and-income-producing livestock and other support.
Families in the rural Copperbelt face low agriculture productivity, limited ability to own livestock, reduced capacity of local extension and veterinary services to engage in outreach, poor nutrition in children, poor health, hygiene and sanitation practices, reduced capacity of official health and social services to engage in outreach and high levels of deforestation.
This project will provide high quality inputs (livestock, etc.) and training to improve agricultural production, introduce integrated farming in the target communities to diversify production and income that will further increase resilience to inevitable shocks such as when a household member gets sick, and emphasize the community as the focus of the intervention of improving food security through improved livestock, crop and horticulture production and enhancing coping capacity of families.
Over time this project will build socio-economic self-sufficiency of the community through the multiplier effect of the 'passing on the gift' of animals , practical skills and knowledge, best practices in community-based animal management, integrated agriculture, HIV/AIDS care and support, sanitation and hygiene and pro-poor enterprise development.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
