A partnership between Cargill Animal Nutrition and Heifer International is enabling the expansion of 450 women-led, family-owned poultry farms in Qingshen, China. These farms will receive chicks, business training and access to nutrition expertise and veterinary support.

The Qingshen Sustainable Livelihood and Community Holistic Development Project initially will provide 150 small-scale farms with 100 baby chicks each and training in poultry-raising methods, go-to-market strategies and advanced animal nutrition strategies. The participants of the project will primarily be women-led households, where families are dispersed due to greater job opportunities in urban areas, a common occurrence in the selected communities.

"The most important thing we can share with our global community is our knowledge, and our farmer training programs are among our most impactful corporate social responsibility efforts," said Chuck Warta, president, Cargill Premix and Nutrition. "Through this partnership, we are putting our expertise in animal husbandry and nutrition right where it is desperately needed. It is a great honor to work for the benefit of these Chinese communities, and it is our hope that this project will be the first of many to succeed with this formula."

The project also incorporates Heifer's "Passing on the Gift," where each farming family passes on livestock to another family in need.  The goal is to include two generations of Passing on the Gift, distributing chicks to a total of 450 farms.

"Cargill's expertise in the poultry business and their knowledge of the worldwide value chain will be a tremendous value to our work in China," said Pierre Ferrari, president and CEO of Heifer International.  "Our collaboration is a testament to our aligned values and Heifer's goal to help four million families achieve living incomes by 2020."

The partnership is one of a broad set of Cargill programs focused on the intersection of food security, sustainability and nutrition. Cargill is investing more than $13 million in grants aimed at improving the lives of more than one million people in 15 countries around the world.

"Collaborating with Heifer International on the Qingshen Project gives us a great opportunity to help small-scale farmers increase their capacity and productivity—and boost their incomes," said Clemens Tan, managing director for Cargill's complete feed business in China.

"By partnering with Heifer International, our resources are reaching more people in an area of extreme need," said Jolanda Van Haarlem, managing director for Cargill's premix feed business in China. "It could also help eliminate the need for many men to take jobs in the city and reduce the separation of families this creates."

Source: Cargill