Sustainable Development Success Stories
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CSD-6: Sustainable Development Success Stories |
| Location | Kudal District, Sindhurdurg, Maharashtra State, India. |
| Responsible Organisations | Heifer Project International, in partnership with the Government (of India) Animal Husbandry Department and Mangaon Khere Krushi Society. |
| Description | Mrs. Sunita Sarnoubat is a widow who has three children and who lives in Karyat Narur, in the Tal Kudal District of Sindhurdurg. Her two acres of land provide her produce to feed her children, but sometimes the harvest is so small that even a single full meal for the children is difficult. With the assistance of HPI, through the Kudal Dairy Buffalo Project, and a loan from her local bank, Sunita was able to purchase a pregnant buffalo on January 10, 1993. |
| Issues Addressed |
Capacity building, Poverty. |
| Results Achieved | Being a member of the HPI project, Mrs. Sunita Sarnoubat had the opportunity to attend training sessions on Animal Husbandry and Dairying. Due to good care and management, her buffalo not only gave her a male offspring, but also gave her an average of six liters of milk a day. During its first lactation, the buffalo gave a total of 1,890 liters of milk. Sunita used some of the milk for home consumption and sold about 80% of the milk to neighbors and to the organization. In January 1994, one member of the project became ill and could not continue to take care of his animal. Sunita volunteered to care for it, in addition to her own project animal. Fortunately, the buffalo gave birth to a female offspring on July 7, 1997, and gave Sunita five liters of milk everyday. In December 1994, Sunita s original buffalo gave birth again, this time to a female calf. The second lactation gave Sunita a total of 2,397 liters of milk. On 26 June, 1996, Sunita passed-on one heifer buffalo to the group and passed-on a second on 10 July, 1996 Sunita said that because of the income earned from the water buffalo, she was able to educate her children. Her eldest daughter earned a diploma from the Montessori School. The second daughter is in 10th grade and her son has been admitted to a technical course. From the extra income, Sunita was also able to make repairs to her house. She is happy to have purchased a wristwatch for her son. Sufficient produce of rice, chili and cowpeas for her family gave them food security. She uses the by-products of rice straw and groundnut cake for the buffaloes, which helped reduce fodder costs. Aside from being busy with their studies, Sunita s children are kept occupied by helping with the family s dairy business. This, Sunita claims, has helped her children refrain from indulging in bad habits. |
| Lessons Learned | This project provides training in dairy buffalo husbandry to 50 participants each year for two years. This is followed by the distribution of 50 dairy buffalo to selected and trained project partners each year for two years. |
| Contact | Asia/South Pacific Programs, Heifer Project International, 1015 Louisiana Street, Little Rock, Arkansas 72202, USA. Tel. (501) 376 6836; Fax. (501) 376 8906. |