ARTICLE - REACH PROJECT - AGRICULTURE

THE REACH PROJECT WILL CREATE 150 GOAT AND PIG BREEDING CENTERS
(Haiti Libre) -

Pierre Ferrari, President and CEO of Heifer International will be in Haiti this Wednesday until February 22, to follow up on the REACH project (Rural Entrepreneurs for Agricultural Cooperation in Haiti) (initiated in September 2011). This $18.7 million project will target more than 20,000 families in Haiti, working with goats, cattle, poultry, pigs and other agricultural inputs. The REACH project will focus on moving families from hunger to self-sufficiency, and further into small business development.

During his stay in Haiti, Pierre Ferrari, will inaugurate a new goat breeding center funded to the tune of $30,000 U.S. dollars. This new center of about 100 animals, will be used to fortify local goat stock. Administered by the farmers' association "Tet Kole", in addition to producing animals, will help train farmers in animal husbandry, business development and management. The center that will open February 16, 2012, is a model for other breeding centers that will be created under REACH.

As part of Heifer's commitment to make small farmers more independent, the REACH project, will create 150 smaller goat and pig breeding centers to increase the supply of quality animals in specific regions of Haiti. "At least one-third of the centers will be run by women or women associations" stated the President of Heifer International "What’s needed now is a mechanism for small-scale farmers to become self-reliant. Haiti’s communities are fully capable of crafting their own prosperity through fundamental, small-scale farmer-friendly structural change. That is where Heifer International can help."

In addition to the inauguration of the new breeding center, Ferrari, accompanied by Oscar Castañeda, Vice President of Heifer’s Americas program, will visit other projects, and will meet government officials and international NGOs.

Learn more about Heifer International :>

Heifer’s mission is to end hunger and poverty while caring for the Earth. Since 1944, Heifer International has provided livestock and environmentally sound agricultural training to improve the lives of those who struggle daily for reliable sources of food and income. Heifer is currently working in 40 countries, including the United States, to help families and communities become more self-reliant.