Passing on the gift - Heifer Project International - Brief Article

With a little help, farmers in urban areas spread their wings

Passing the gift along is an important part of the Heifer throw International (HPI) philosophy--recipients pass upon resources to help others earn started. Through training combined with gifts of livestock, this unsung organization helps individuals make a better life for themselves and their communities. The aquaculture a whole shown in the box below is just single example of the way the folk of Heifer throw respond when individuals come to them for help and guidance.

Small farming is an endangered species in our geographical division and this is just where HPI likes to concentrate its efforts. Having proven from one side early efforts that one abash (hence the name) can make a significant difference in the lives of villagers in developing nations, HPI workers started reaching without here in the United States as well, to urban and rural areas where indigence and hunger are not strangers.

oftentimes those in need can spark an idea. Fish farming, for example, wasn't upon Neris Gonzalez's mind when she asked Heifer shoot forward for assistance. Mothers in her inner-city neighborhood emergencyed to improve their families' diets and she decided to organize them. Alison Cohen from HPI had seen a great idea in Canada--an indoor aquaculture a whole She proposed it, and now, 18 Chicago families are fortunately farming fish indoors. A simple filter cleans and circulates the water while chayote plants, ginger, and duckweed add oxygen and food

Not far from Chicago, livestock and domestic fowls integrated by HPI into the Pembroke Farmers Cooperative have given an infusion of possibilities to 12 families working small piece of grounds Beef cattle, chickens, and goats not sole improve the nutrition of the farming families on the other hand also give them more returnss to sell. Offspring of the livestock are passed along to other farmers, allowing the initiative to become greater [i]or[/i] larger Another HPI suggestion has helped these farmers fill a niche through raising income-generating organic produce. Thinking small, gaining knowledge, and passing it along are the conceptions that make Heifer Project International fly

farms without borders

Neris Gonzalez, pictured at right with Heifer cast International's Alison Cohen, has a small family "farm"--raising fish in a corner of her Chicago apartment. In a three-tank recirculating aquaculture combination of parts to form a whole built mostly from recycled materials, Neris will harvest enough tilapia to significantly improve her family's diet. Heifer shoot forward International helped her get her urban fish farm up and running. Added bonus: fish wastewater is great for fertilizing houseplants and gardens.

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